Alexandre Lacazette‘s current contract is up next summer, and it remains to be seen whether Arsenal will be cashing in come January, but how much is he worth?
The Frenchman will be allowed to leave on a free contract come the end of the season if a new deal isn’t completed, and he will be allowed to talk to foreign clubs about potential moves early into 2022, meaning that it could well be the Gunners last chance to find a buyer this winter, or risk losing him for nothing.
Newcastle’s recent takeover has seen them linked with a potential move for his signature, which could be a huge help to our finances if we were to offload him just after Christmas as we will no doubt be looking to bring in a replacement inside the next 12 months also, but it remains to be seen if Mikel Arteta will be keen to keep him for the remainder of the season.
Darrent Bent, a self-confessed Arsenal fan, told TalkSPORT listeners that our fanbase would accept £40 Million for his signature in the coming window, and while we would no doubt accept such an offer, his value is considerably less than that.
“I think some Arsenal fans would be like, ‘Oh, you know what, £40m for Lacazette, I would probably take that’,” Bent said live on the radio, but the reality is that his contract situation means that he is worth far less than that amount.
Transfermarkt ranks his value as low as £19.8 Million which I believe is a much more realistic valuation, but while I don’t expect any team outside of England to pay that fee come January as they can discuss his potential free transfer, a team like Newcastle paying something around that amount could make sense.
Depending on Mikel Arteta’s thinking towards his current options in attack, he could well lean towards seeing out the current campaign with Laca as back-up to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which could mean that he would see his place in the team as more important that a fee of between £5-10 Million in January, or he could request that the club bring in his replacement in the winter window also, with the latter likely to cost the club extra.
I believe the club would likely accept somewhere between £12-15 Million in the coming window personally, while selling to a Premier League side could well come with a premium of around £4-5 Million on top.
How much do you think would be a realistic asking price for Lacazette knowing he could leave for free a few months later?
Patrick