Alexandre Lacazette is playing a key role for Arsenal so far this season, but I expect this season to be his last with us.
The striker shared his role with youngster Eddie Nketiah following his impressive spell earlier in 2020, but has started the new season well.
Youngster Nketiah however has this week broken the record of being England Under-21s all-time leading goalscorer, and will be looking to take that accolade into the senior game.
Gabriel Martinelli is also a great prospect, although he is out of action until 2021, and he will likely use the remainder of the season to convince the manager that he is deserving of plenty of minutes.
It is young Eddie however who is showing that he is the one who will be ready to take on the central role in the long-term, and Lacazette is likely already of the understanding that his place is under threat.
The Frenchman has been allowed to enter into the final two years of his current playing deal, with no talks yet to have taken place over an extension, which further adds to my belief that he will be moved on in the near future.
With both Nketiah and Martinelli in the squad, as well as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe, who could both play centrally if given a chance, I’m more than confident that Laca’s departure wouldn’t need replacing with a proven star. This would free up money to be spent on bringing in another central midfielder, possibly Houssem Aouar or Dani Ceballos whilst having change left over.
Is Lacazette a key player at Arsenal? Does he do much that Nketiah doesn’t? Has Martinelli shown enough to be considered as our back-up striker already?
Patrick
