Lacazette back on Arsene's radar!Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has always been very favourable in signing players from his home nation of France and for a period of the early 2000's, the Arsenal team was largely made up of French stars. Wenger has gone some way from dividing his attraction to Ligue 1 in recent years, but could he be
going back to France to sign another young talent?Lacazette has been on Arsenal's transfer list for a number of seasons now, although as far as the media is aware, no formalised discussions have ever been held, but the Mirror reckons Arsenal are meeting with Lyon this week, after the French club rejected two bids from West Ham. With Wenger desperately on the lookout for a striker this summer, Lacazette could be his man if he is willing to pay the asking price.
Lacazette currently plays for Lyon in France and is reportedly keen to move away from where he has spent his entire playing career so far. The French forward was unlucky not to join up with his national side to go to this summer's European Championships, after scoring 23 goals over the course of the season. However France do have a whole host of options when it comes to strikers and so it seem he missed out due to competition rather than form.
After having two bids already rejected from West Ham, Lyon remain adamant to keep hold of their main man and have reportedly put a £45 million price tag on the forward. In my opinion this is far too much for a striker like Lacazette because even though he is a prolific goal scorer, he is only really proven in the arguably weak division that France is. Lacazette is yet to prove to be a big player on a higher level and so I think that kind of money is a huge risk that Wenger won't be willing to take.
The other factor is that Wenger has always maintained that he won't have players in one position compete for both club and country. It was supposedly a large factor with not pursuing Benzema last season, because we already have Giroud and that would mean competition for a single place for both club and country. The only example that I can think of where Wenger has gone against his usual standard, is
Szczesny and Fabianski, who both played for Arsenal and Poland as goalkeepers.Although I don't expect anything to come from this rumour, I do think Lacazette could do well at Arsenal, but it is all down to whether Wenger can secure the young striker at a lower price. Keep your eyes peeled for this one.
Should Arsenal be interested in Lacazette?
By AH