Three reasons why Lacazette could still turn down Arsenal – Don’t celebrate yet!

Yes it certainly did appear that the Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas told the media that a deal for Alexandre Lacazette could go through in the next few days, but it is far from being a done deal, which Aulas (does he ever shut up!) has confirmed in a subsequent tweet yesterday.

This basically says that it is false that a deal has been agreed and Lacazette is not in London for a medical, as Arsenal’s opening offer was only 45 million euros, which is still some way off Lyon’s valuation and also well below the reported price that Atletico Madrid were preparing to pay before their transfer ban.

The second reason is that (as reported this morning) Lacazette is currently on holiday in Los Angeles so has had had no part in these talks at all so far. He has not agreed to anything. He has not discussed personal terms which he can’t do anyway until a transfer fee is agreed with Lyon, so all in all any reports of a done deal are still far from a reality.

And the third reason is very worrying. Who is he in Los Angeles with at the moment? Yes his holiday partner is none other than his great friend Anthoine Greizmann, who has no doubt been instrumental in Lacazette agreeing to move to Atletico in the first place. The Spanish giants may have a transfer ban, but it would be no great hardship for the French hitman to simply opt to stay at Lyon until January, and then go and join his friend in the Spanish capital.

May I remind you what Lacazette said about a possible move to Atletico (before the ban was confirmed). He said: “I think that’s the right time. I want to discover something else, and to play at a different level,” he told L’Equipe in May.

“I know very well that on a European scale I am not yet well recognised. I want to see if I can answer the questions that people are asking, and to make further progress.”

“Atletico is a club that is in the last rounds of the Champions League for several years. It is a great team, in a new stadium, and it is also a club that helps their players progress.

“And there is Antoine Griezmann. If Atletico is the club I chose, I have not told you, maybe I’ll give you another answer in a few months!

“It would be a beautiful story if we [Griezmann and Lacazette] could go on together It started in the French Under-18 team. He arrived timidly.

“There are always small groups, and he was a little alone, but we got closer, because we played together in attack and we got along well in life. Then, both of us, we carried almost all the rest of the group…..”

So, call me cynical if you want, but these are all valid reasons why Lacazette to Arsenal is still a long way from becoming a fact. It mat still happen, but do you think that Griezmann has been telling his best friend to wait for Atletico and the Champions League, or join Arsenal in the Europa?

Darren N.

22 Comments

  1. Lyon president can’t sell a player to wherever more transfer money is being offered,the player has a right to choose his preferred club so long as the release clause has been triggered. Lacazette has not publicly rejected Arsenal or declared he wants to move only to atletico.Arsenal has hired a lawyer who will be negotiating players contracts it’s high time we sue this fool Aulas if lacazette release Clause has been triggered already

    1. First I heard of Lacazette having a release fee, the price Aulas is wanting from what I read is what he values the player at and he is playing hardball over one of their better players, something AFC should learn how to do.

      “City, you want Alexis do you? £150 million if you please. Too high? awww p*ss off then Pep”

      See, Aulas isn’t that bad if he was fighting in your corner, he is just a pain in the arsenal when dealing against 🙂

  2. The factors listed above also does not show why he would reject Arsenal.This is just building castles in the air.I can also gather evidence on more stranger transfers.Lyon know he wants to leave and at this point in time they want to get everything done quickly as possible.Also Lacazette has constantly been telling Aulas that he wants to go this window and this should tell you that now it’s not even about Athletico since he can go there only in January.A fee has already been agreed according to Aulas himself.As for me if you ask me I think it’s as good as done because even Lacazette is keen to move this window.It will surely be done if you really look at Lacazette’s standpoint.

    1. Seeing how keen Lacazette is keen to move this transfer window it’s unlikely that he’ll reject Arsenal. In fact it’s his constant willingness to move this transfer window that has made Aulas concede defeat in keeping him at Lyon.He seems to have his heart set on a move away this season than ever.I’ve also not heard another club competing with Arsenal for his signature hence this is his likely destination.Aulas at this point in time would also want no stumbling block in the deal and would want everything done quickly after seeing how Laca wants to move.I’m 100% sure Lacazette will be an Arsenal player.

    2. Good post Kev.

      Wanted to add to what you said, OL are in europe and players can get cup tied, I can’t imagine OL playing without Lacazette if he is their player still.

      I think Lacazette would also know this and would be happier to move now than in Jan and miss out on EL football.

    3. Good one Kev. What a kick in the nuts article from Darren. What gives man?

      I agree Aulas talks/tweets too much. But so does Trump. Welcome to 2017?

      HITC reports AW met with Lacazette mid June so holidays in LA or not, deal can be done with his agent over the phone. Don’t piss on the parade man. Aulas is pretty pleased he’s getting €50m for an acadamy product. He’ll prob get another £2.6m as the first add on is reportedly easy to trigger while the latte £3.4m is a bit harder.

      Can we please focus on the remaining things on the to-do list.
      1. Sanchez keep/Aguero swap/£50m
      2. Giroud- eff Everton and West Ham
      3. Lemar or Mahrez?
      4. Make Ox a better offer
      5. Gibbs to Watford/Newcastle- replace or Conor Bramell?
      6. Szczesny- ?
      7. Ozil- who hacked his insta haha

  3. weird that no one actually wants this great french stricker but us! MANU clearly need a stricker chelsea too if costa leaves and they have tons of money.they showed no interest in lacazatte thats how good that guy is!

    1. Whats with this attitude? Mind your own business and look for the players the club needs, not which players other clubs are going for ffs

  4. This article makes sense to me. I already referenced the holiday with Griezman in an earlier post as a possibly bad omen for us.

    This is why I said we should wait until the club announces before we believe the rumors.
    Arsenal fans of all fans should know transfer rumors and “done” transfers are plenty but actually signed and confirmed transfers are not.

    I know some on here were sure we would announce the deal today but I doubt that.

    Sometimes I wonder if Arsenal fans ever learn. Soon we will get the articles about if and how we will or can win the PL this season (before we kicked a ball in anger) 🙂

  5. Don’t worry about Griezmann, he will be leaving AM next summer, he would have left this summer for UTD but he at least had enough respect for AM to not leave them while they couldn’t buy any replacements.

    If anything AFC should be sniffing round Griezmann for next summer, tell Lacazette we will trigger his release clause in his contract (around £87 million) and we will be making him a marquee signing to replace the (then) out of contract Alexis.

    Boom. 1 more reason to join AFC and Griezmann is quality which I bet we all would like to see play for us 😉

  6. Missing out of is not a factor,I remembered someone saying that,and I wonder which club they were referring to

  7. Lyon president is a blabbermouth, The way he has spoken last days doesn’t guarantee anything.I will believe the deal is done when its announced on Arsenal.com

  8. It would be nice if Lacazette comes to Arsenal, has a great time scoring goals and playing well, and then convinces his buddy Griezmann to come to the Emirates with him.

  9. To claim that because Lacazette is on holiday he has had no part in these talks at all is just nonsense!

  10. I don’t understand the purpose of this article. Is it motivated by hyper pessimism, cynicism or both? What is the main issue that prompted it? Is Griezman the father or benefactor of Lacazette? Is Lacazette an infirm? Why should anyone imagine that because Griezman and Lacazette are friends and he is at Atletico he will convince Lacazette to go there also. It’s true that Lacazette had wanted to go to Atletico but there is transfer ban on Atletico. Why should anyone think that Lacazette is incapable of thinking independently? Wasn’t Griezman himself also about to leave Atletico for other clubs this summer? Besides I doubt that two clubs can discuss the fate of a player without his consent. This is the modern age not Medieval times.

    1. As i said in an earlier article, Some Arsenal fans aren’t really adept at reading between the lines and analysing things themselves. If BBC and Sky Sports says a deal is very close it is as good as done. Secondly Wenger has wanted him for YEARS, third with tolisso and whole lot of stars leaving lyon this transfer window do they really think lacazette wants to stick around? fourth Do they think lacazette can’t think for himself? Is griezmann his agent now? fifth the LYON PRESIDENT came out and said Lacazette will sign for Arsenal and the guy is a douche. Sixth Lacazette like most modern footballers will always welcome more money.

  11. The Lyon president has only said what we already know, which is the deal has not been sealed and Alex is not in London for medical. This does not equate to the deal is off or even moving in that direction. As killamch89 has rightly pointed out most of the reliable sources say its going to happen soon.
    I think Darren N is a journalist in the making and a master of spin. OG and AL up front for Arsenal will be a handful for any defence as both have different strengths but more importantly they are good at link up play and will readily give an assist.

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