Rumours rule football; people survive on rumours to either have an idea of what their club is planning on doing or to just keep themselves busy. Either way, rumours are part of football. In recent times, Arsenal has been hit with a lot of stories presumed to be from the club. Most of these stories tend to be untrue.
Today, I want to talk about Alexandre Lacazette once again.
Lacazette has been in the news recently with stories emerging of a contract clause that allows him to leave Arsenal at the end of the season if they fail to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. He has come out to deny such a clause, insisting he would only leave Arsenal when the time is right. For coming out to debunk the rumour, Lacazette has done right to put records straight and reduce the tensions between him and the Arsenal fans. However, it is one thing to put the record straight, another thing is to show it on the field of play.
Laca has not been in the best of form this season and it is only natural that he should be thinking of how to improve his game and nothing else. Even if he wants to leave Arsenal at the end of this season, he would do well to avoid talking about it for now. Who stays or who leaves the club should not be what we should be talking about at the moment.
Tonight is another opportunity for Lacazette to keep on trying to improve his game, how to start scoring important goals and how to contribute positively to the cause of the team. He is our striker but he has not lived up to the status of a top number nine! He has not been scoring goals to move the team forward this season and this has affected the club’s fortune in the league.
Against Olympiacos, what I expect from the French striker is goals, goals and goals. He should do everything to score more than one goal tonight and contribute to helping Arsenal qualify to the next round. He should be motivated to grab the headlines and win the hearts of the Arsenal fans on a long term basis.
We are Arsenal and we are proud.
Sylvester Kwentua