Arsenal striker role is being strongly talked about in the rumour mill at present, with Alexandre Lacazette firmly expected to need replacing in the coming months.
The Frenchman is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, with a new deal believed to be off the table at present, and his departure is expected to leave a gap in the squad, although there could be an opening for one of our current crop to step up.
Eddie Nketiah, Folarin Balogun and Gabriel Martinelli are all behind Laca in the pecking order at present for a central role, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appears an unmoveable force in the role at present.
While minutes will be difficult to come by in the Premier League this term, we have two domestic competitions where the players may get their chance to stake their claims for a role moving forwards.
That being said, none of the trio have shown enough to be considered as Laca’s long-term replacement within our team as of yet, and at present, you would have to think that a proven contender would be high on our wishlist.
While Inter Milan are claimed to targeting our striker, knowing that his fee will likely be a bargain due to his remaining contract, we could well seek out our own bargain also.
A few years back, we were claimed to have made an offer in excess of £50 Million to sign Andrea Belotti from Torino due to his goalscoring talents with AS claiming our offer was around the €65 Million mark, but his club refused to sell for anything less than his €100 Million release clause, and with his contract set to expire come August also, we could well look to replace Laca with the Italian international.
Both of these deals should be more than attainable in January, which would allow both a settling in process before the new season, and the two deals should mean that we will still have much of our budget in tact ahead of another bid to improve the squad next summer.
Would Belotti be an upgrade on Lacazette?
Patrick
lets all ignore fact he is only just back from ligament injury last Feb shall we? or how about his goal every 3 games last season? NO where near good enough
Belotti turns 28 this December. Not the sortof age of player that we will be prepared to “break the bank for” I suggest”!
In todays market he is surely worth no more than “£20 mill at most” and as such will not available for transfer, I believe!