Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Lyon reject Arsenal bid for Lacazette

Lyon claim they have ignored an offer of €35 million tabled by Arsenal for striker Alexandre Lacazette.

The Gunners have long been linked with the 25-year-old despite the Ligue 1 outfit making clear their eagerness to retain the services of their star man.

Taking to social media in a statement that will likely draw a line under the Gunners interest in the France international, Lyon state:

Olympique Lyonnais categorically denies having received a €48m offer from Arsenal for Alexandre Lacazette like Le Progrès claims in their edition this morning.

The club regrets yet again that Le Progrès did not decide to contact us before publishing this false information that has created confusion on the day where the Group, on the stock exchange, publishes its annual accounts showing €218.1m, a progression of 111% from 2014/15.

The reality is that the club Arsenal made an offer worth €35m, which Lyon did not follow up on for one reason: OL will keep Alexandre Lacazette who is irreplaceable and who is one of the main leaders in Bruno Genesio’s squad.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas obviously decided he’d kill two birds with one stone, killing off the story in Le Progrès (he must have some serious boeuf there!) and nipping in the bud any suggestion that Arsenal have a chance of signing Lacazette even if they return with a bigger bid.

After the failed attempt to sign Vardy this has to go down as another rejection. We can’t see Arsene reviving his interest after such public mischief making.

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Translation by the ever-reliable Get French Football News 

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Given Lyon have killed the story dead, we’re not even sure we can give our new Poo-o-Meter rating system a run out…the bastards.

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Javis

Progress anyway that is..now, can we meet their valuation or meet in between? I personally think yes and that bid is just testing the water!

Jokerekoj

I find it surreal that fans are backing an improved bid for this guy.

35m euros as it is for him is enough to make me twitch.

beNZed

Who do you instead want us to bid for, how much would this non-twitch-inducing bid actually be, and is it a realistic option or something from Newsnow Deluxe edition?

Jokerekoj

That’s the point, isn’t it? This story shows that there are no strikers available of sufficient quality to justify the price tag. The only option is try and unearth a gem from south america, but then we all know the tough Home Office rules.

I’d personally bid 70m euros for Mahrez and go with Sanogo as an option up front, then less than two Lacazzetes at the same price.

Geezy

Your name combines brilliantly with your comment

Jokerekoj

To Geezy above, You mean that my opinion is a joke? You must be the man! Please do let me know your thoughts. What should our next move be in the transfer market? My opinion above is based on two points: 1. Recent history shows that we aren’t in the habit of making more than one big-money signing per year. Were we to make one this year, I’d prefer we sign the player of the year, 2015-2016. 2. There were rumours linking us with Lacazzete last year too. Given that we are back for him a year on – with… Read more »

Geezy

Your comment had the words “go with Sanogo as an option” and you’re wondering why I might think you’re joking?

Jokerekoj

Well, that clearly was a joke. However, did you really find it funnier than the one that involves us offering north of 35m for a player who didn’t make Euro 2016 to improve upon one who did?

My belly is not so sure 🙂

Gooooooooooooona

That is a very valid point! When I talk to my friends who watch ligue 1 on the regular they all tell me lacazette is v average, and like Arseblog labelled him, he’s very welbecky. In truth he’s worth somewhere in the 20’s, and if we REALLY wanted him I think we would have got him by now. I feel this is just paper talk lads, and wenger was probably trying to see if he could get him for a reasonable price like Vardy was available for.

Stillmatic

Talk by Canal of interest in Ben Yedder.

Would take Mahrez and Ben Yedder than just Lacazette, who I just don’t feel is that good.

Samgunz

Ben Yedder is class

Abhi

Let’s just get Mahrez..anything and everybody else be fucked..Mahrez please Mahrez..*scrunches my eyes closed and prays*

Third Plebeian

Is Yedder really a better player than Lacazette?

Samgunz

I think he’s a better footballer, very two footed, quick but more importantly more versatile than Laccazette which means he’ll get more game time which I’d rather over a pissed Laccazette that can’t get in the team over Giroud. But yeh, I’d happily take either of them.

Samgunz

On 2nd thought, for what we need, Lacazette is a better option, but would love someone like Ben Yedder in the squad, still he won’t score a bundle of goals so yeh, flick him out on the right and we’re laughing, lacazette through the middle will bag 20 goals in his 1st season.

Gooooooooooooona

He bagged 21 goals in league 1 last season… This is a league I paid a full year’s subscription for and couldn’t get myself to finish two games. The quality really really is far superior to the BPL. Not to mention a really valid point, his main asset (pace and mobility) won’t be very effective when you have teams parking the bus against us. He isn’t super quality nor does he have the potential to be what I’ve heard/read/seen. Apparently Ben Yedder although isn’t top quality at the minute, has immense potential and is very highly rated. But if we’re… Read more »

Stillmatic

Why would you feel Ben Yedder won’t score a bundle of goals?
He’s scored 70 in last few seasons and scored only 4 less goals than Lacazette at a hugely inferior club that just about survived relegation whereas Lacazette is at the second best team in France.

Paulo-Di-Gunnio

Normally I’d agree, but we’ve seen a paradigm shift in the transfer market, and the way things are now, €35M seems about the minimum you could expect to pay for a player like Lacazette.

I for one really hope Wenger doesn’t show his usual stubborn indifference but instead actually follows through with this one.

Gooooooooooooona

I’d rather he spent silly money on an actual top quality CF we didn’t know was available. Remember guys, Wenger & rarely ever go public about their transfer activity so although most of us have the impression that were just dicking around, we really don’t know because Wenger will neither confirm nor deny the rumour. Which makes it so easy for scumbag journalists to just link us to any striker that’s on the move. And if I striker moves to a different club in a different league, a great way to get more clicks and ones from BPL fans would… Read more »

IamaGoober

What sort of worries me about Lacazette is the fact that Gignac was picked ahead of him for the French squad this summer ..and Gignac looked like one of the worst strikers I have ever seen. So if he cant get picked ahead of that guy, is he really any good at all? I mean his record is okay for Lyon, but its hard to quantify his talents as the EPL is a huge step up from the French League. I’d much rather see us go for proven Premier League goal scorer like Lukaku, then this guy. Because if we… Read more »

Dan Hunter

Is his exclusion a case against Lacazette or against Deschamps? Deschamps does seem a bit clueless. He had the best team by a mile yet could not muster a win in the final against a vastly inferior Portuguese team. Lacazettes record speaks for itself. Last year he did not have his partner Nebil Fekir to create so he had to adjust and still came up with very decent tally. With a proper provider behind him like Özil and (hopefully) Mahrez, Cazorla, Xhaka – I can see him scoring at least 20 goals. For me, paying the release fee is a… Read more »

Gooooooooooooona

Thats what I’ve been thinking! He’s either not good enough, or doesn’t have the right mentality (like nasri, clichy and Ben arfa).

And come on, you don’t need to be top class to be better than Giniac, the guy was absolute rubbish!

BOB

I don’t know why we are not considering Lukaku. He will cost a bit but we know he will give us goals and can lead the line for us.

Trez

Lacazette is far more clinical. That’s why I’m sold on him. Clinical, fast and decent technique.

Gooooooooooooona

not any more clinical than Giroud looks on YouTube videos

broken red army

yeah West Ham had a 40€m bid rejected in Jun and we make a 35€m in July. it gives me the feeling, as if they’re bidding to fail for the sake of being active

Bring Back Seaman

When this story last came up we ended up playing Lyon that season, and I keenly remember thinking he was a little bit poo, in both games.

Hey Blogs, you could give your poo-o-meter a run out on how poo we all think this player is.

Toby C

I don’t think he would have denied it so forcefully if he thought or wanted a deal to be done.

The problem is 35 million doesn’t get you much these days. We’d have been much better of bidding 80-90 million for Higuain or Benzema. Surely decent value if they help us win the title or even the Champs League.

Ps we need Mahrez as well.

Gooooooooooooona

What if we also gave them Sanogo, a bag of crisps and some fruit loops. Surely they’ll reconsider then…..

BW

Up the bid, maybe not all the way to 48m but surely the player will say he prefers the move so we have that on our side.

Rozza the samourai

Wenger met 48 millions dans la casette, Aulas arrête sa cassette.

BW

Wut?

Samgunz

Turns out he was just after his antique cassette player from his ex in Lyon? She’s being stubborn with it.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

Why will Lacazette say he prefers the move? How are you so sure?
Are you a blind optimist or nutjob, or are you his mum by any chance?

Gooooooooooooona

Don’t be silly, Arsenal is a much much bigger club in every aspect, although our champions league chances are laughable and we realistically haven’t been able to properly challenge for the league, WE ARE STILL BETTER THAN LYON AND HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF TROPHIES. Both domestically (as Ligue 1 is a one horse race) and in Europe.

Joey

At least this shows we’re truly after an established forward.

Tsan

After this snub, I’m not sure what other established strikers are left for us to pursue. Icardi, Morata, Lacazette–all of these targets have popped up in rumours and died down just as quickly as they have formed. If the Vardy snub is the closest we get to signing a quality striker this summer transfer window, it will be a long season indeed. Also, gotta get the armband away from Giroud and pray for divine protection over his everything.

Stillmatic

Only other options are Gabriel Jesus, Ben Yedder and Yarmolenko.

Matt

And Lukaku? I think he’s quite better than Giroud, scoring more goals in the PL in a worse team.

Parisian Weetabix

Hasn’t Gabby Jesus signed for city?

assistantref

Gabriel Jesus isn’t really a striker anyway.

PFo

How are these our “only other options”? That’s absurd. I’ll wager most of us hadn’t heard of Ben Yedder before yesterday, and yet he’s supposed to be one of only 3 players on the globe who are both a) good enough to improve us in the centre forward position, and b) realistically available?????

Nico

Translation of the last bit:
The reality is Arsenal offered €35M which OL refused on this sole basis: OL will keep Alexandre Lacazette who is irreplaceable and is one of the main leaders of Bruno genesio(the OL manager)’s squad.

Nico

Or OL just didn’t follow up on the bid as they’re waiting for €90 million richer Napoli who are also looking for a striker. But who really knows

Peter

Taken from skysports, hvis has a slightly different translation. “Lyon have released a statement saying they have not received a €48m offer from Arsenal for Alexandre Lacazette, contrary to a report in Le Progres. The statement reads: “The club regrets yet again that Le Progres did not decide to contact us before publishing this false information that has created confusion on the day where the Group, on the stock exchange, publishes its annual accounts showing €218.1m, a progression of 111% from 2014/15. “The reality is that the club Arsenal made an offer worth €35m, which Lyon did not follow up… Read more »

GobiLux

Lyon is dementing having received an offer of 48M€ for Alexandre Lacazette as the “Le Progrès” wrote in its edition this morning. The club is regretting once again that “Le Progrès” didn’t take the time to contact the club before publicizing false information which creates confusion on the day that the club made its numbers on the stock marked public. 218,1M€ moving up 111% from 2014/15. The reality is that Arsenal have made an offer of 35€ which Lyon didn’t follow up for one reason only: Lyon will keep Alexandre Lacazette since he is irreplaceable and one of the main… Read more »

adriano

Maybe all you crazies can calm down a little, some proof that Wenger is working to get some players in.

Daft Aider

by offering less then West Ham’s already refused offer?, sounds a bit amateur to me……..

Ditch the Blue

Made before or after the Euros? Who knows!

Daft Aider

in late June they said the only offer they had received was from West Ham, can’t remember where the article was

kampala gooner

Wouldn’t West ham have to offer a price much higher than ours just for a simple fact we a more desirable option to play for and besides we are in the Champions League and they aint.

dr Strange

Why would Lyon want more from West Ham than us? We, as a super rich club, would probably have to pay more.

Mpls

They know they could get more because it is less likely the player would push to go. With Arsenal the player may be more interested in pushing it through.

Haven’t seen anything about release clause, which also frequently varies depending on if it is a CL qualified club or not.

Super Joshi

Please don’t interrupt our mild panic with sound reason and logic.

Anonymarse

Mild?

Unnecessarilystupid

Which Lyon qualified by saying the player will go if he gets an offer he can’t refuse.

In light of that it seems like a sensible opening gambit. Get the player to apply some pressure as well knowing our interest is real

PFo

Exactly. Not sure why Blogs is so confident that this has killed the attempt to get him. After all, selling clubs make statements like this all the time (see Dortmund on Mikki). This statement has dramatically increased my credence levels in the possibility of us getting him, rather than decreasing it, since (a) for the first time this is very reliable evidence that we actually are interested in him, not just speculation, (b) there’s no reason to think we couldn’t come back with a bigger offer (it’s the Arsenal way to start with an insultingly low opening offer after all),… Read more »

Anonymarse

Trying and failing

thw14

If you stop reading at the right place, it says “Arsenal offered 35m which Lyon did not take up for one reason: LOL”

Tsan

I really hope this doesn’t turn into another public embarassment like the Suarez transfer fiasco was. Even if it’s not the full asking price, pay up whatever is needed to get us the pieces we need before things go to shit.

Avneet

This is pretty close already pal!

Gutbukket Deffrolla

You’re a fan. Why were you embarrassed? The fact is that footballers do not sit on a shelf with a price tag on their toe. The buying club has to offer something it thinks will get the deal done, and then the selling club is within it’s rights to tell the potential buyers to go to fuck, or even accuse them of smoking funny substances (and thereby exposing their utter lack of class in throwing such an insult). The player himself is also within his rights to tell the buying club to go to fuck too, for any reason that… Read more »

Cas

There used to be. Top players are rare these days.

Joker

The problem is that we have waited until late July to bid for a player we could have gone after in June. Gives OL less time to find a replacement.

On the other hand it seems like the double swoop rumors of Lacazette and Mahrez may have been true after all? I mean, Arsenal and Leicester are both in California, so…

Gutbukket Deffrolla

Do you really think Lacazette would have been in a mood to talk business while he was watching the Euros just after being told he wasn’t good enough to play in them? Doing a deal during the Euros would have only highlighted the fact that he wasn’t good enough to be there. How would he have felt about signing for a team whose other striker was the guy who took the place he wanted at the Euros? In fact, if he was to sign for us then perhaps he would remain under Giroud’s shadow forever. Maybe he would reject Arsenal… Read more »

EggsOnEggs

€40 million, a Denver Omelet made by Stan with Two Sunny Side up on top and they will bite.

Daft Aider

except they have already refused more then that, when west ham bid for him

Ding

Except that denver omelette goes for at least 9.35 million euros.

Poor accounting, daft.

Daft Aider

given inflation and the yo-yo of the pound and it’s effects on the world’s economy it was worth half a lemon this morning, so closer to 4mil

He's got no hair but we don't care...

Excellent.

Not only does this spotlight our poor attempts at getting transfers over the line, it’s also a massive flashing beacon to cash richer clubs like the chavs to swoop in with a sizeably bigger offer, sign the player & make us look like chumps. Again.

Like I said. Excellent.

Let the thumbing down begin!

Ditch the Blue

Arsenal have said nothing about it and we don’t know when the bid was made! Arsenal may go back with another offer. Who knows!

John C

No club is cash richer than Arsenal!

Dale Cooper

I don’t blame you for believing in this because it’s so widely reported for click bait articles by news outlets that should know better, but the ‘journalists’ and news sites who claim our bank value on the published accounts is how much we have ‘spare’ to spend on players really annoy me. The reality is we do have more money than ever, but it’s no where near the crazy amounts that have been quoted.

John C

Maybe i believe it because Arsenal publish it in their accounts, something they’re legally obliged to do as they’re a publicly traded company.

But hey, maybe they and whomever audits their accounts are lying, in which case they’re breaking the law.

And i never said spare, i said cash rich, which is a statement of fact not opinion, unlike yours.

Dale Cooper

Published accounts are a snapshot of accounts at the time of publishing and the raw data can be misleading. Google the article by swissramble regarding Arsenal’s accounts, as he breaks it down better than I ever could. There was a net cash outflow of £69 million in the first half of the 15/16 financial year, meaning they have some heavy liabilities/expenses to pay each year after the accounts are published. Don’t get me wrong, they’re in a great position, but the 200 million thrown around by the press is a load of bullshit.

Dale Cooper

Apologies though, I misinterpreted what you said and assumed you were saying something you weren’t!

John C

The £200m+ figure isn’t a load of bullshit though is it? It’s the figure published in the accounts so it’s accurate, what would be inaccurate is to say is that thats how much Arsenal would be willing to spend on new players.

RobM

So, er, what do you suggest. That we shouldn’t bid for players at all in case other clubs also bid for those players?

Mootilated

Go in with a higher bid. Don’t give up. Clubs will always sell if the price is right. Don’t think it should go over 50m Euros though. But we need a striker and he seems to be the only one that fits the mold who could potentially be available.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

No, they won’t always sell. Didn’t you learn anything from Vardy staying at Leicester?

We may fail to get a top striker this summer because Juventus get him instead. We might have more cash in hand, but Juventus is in Italy. That may seem daft to you, but some footballers will always choose playing in Italy over playing in England, regardless of the money offered to them. The reason for this is that footballers are people. Obvious I know, but so many of the amateur economists on here seem to ignore that fact when making their shopping list of players.

Mpls

The part we don’t know is Lacazette’s view of it. Vardy made the decision to stay when handed a new deal, and the choice was clearly his to make.

This could be the shot across the bow to raise Lacazette’s eyebrows.

Rob

just put in 45m right away, get it done, it’s pre season already.

Rg21

Yeah, because Lyon are so bad at negotiation they just accept opening bids if they think they’re reasonable.

Flashmob

What if, there are realistic chance (beause the players would be interested in a swich) to sign Lacazette for about 40M… But at the same time there are realistic chance to sign Mahrez either – for about 50M?

Given the fact that we have already paid 38M for Xhaka I think there is a good chance that AW has to decide between similar opportunities…

(as we defenitely lacked the goals on the opposite wing where Alexis played but…
at the same time the limits of Giroud’s capabilities were also evident)

Wizardry

Making this public maybe means Lyon are trying to get a bidding war started. But it doesn’t seem like it will work as not a lot of teams will pay anything above what we’ve offered. No need to panic and offer mad cash for this bloke just because Man utd bought Zlatan and Mkhitaryan. A lot of people panicked when they brought in Falcao and di Maria. And we all know how that turned out.

Geezy

They also had a trash manager at the time. Same cannot be said for the present, as much as I hate that asshole.

Hurensohn

Goes against all recent evidence, he turned a championship winning side into a relegation in his last job 😉

beNZed

Surely in this day and age we can’t discount anything based on a club president’s dismissal like this. If – and i do appreciate it’s an if so large you could use it to enclose the entire population of Russia like some form of large warming transfer blanket – offer 60m for him tomorrow that shit would be discussed anew.

Mootilated

Indeed. Less than a week ago Lazio’s president De Laurentis was saying there is no way in hell they would consider selling Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus… Look how that turned out. If you meet the release clause, the club cannot stop you so no matter what the president says, if Arsenal meet the valuation, they have no say.

Ditch the Blue

Suarez?

Mootilated

Arsenal were incorrectly informed of the release clause in that case, no? I believe it was in the range of 50m but they were told it was 40m. I could be wrong.

Goonertom

Thats actually not entirely accurate as i understand it. Meeting the buy out clause only means a club must ‘consider’ the offer, they are under no obligation to sell.

If meeting the buy out clause guaranteed the player left, the infamous £40M+1 would have been a stroke of genius, as it happened, liverpool just said ‘no’ and you know the rest.

Mootilated

But in that case, Liverpool broke the contract regulations with Luis Suarez. They basically said ‘fuck it, this contract doesn’t mean shit so we’re not selling’… Which is why Suarez kicked up a fuss about the whole thing. He could have chosen to sue them if he so wished… Arsenal looked stupid for the bid, but in all honesty, they are the ones who actually followed the rules to a tea.

Jeremy O Dwyer

Agreed. The sensible version of how that ‘fiasco’ went down is that Suarez had a release clause which would be triggered if anyone offered over 40 million. Arsenal triggered the release clause by offering a perfectly reasonable amount over 40 million. Why should they offer more? Liverpool refused to honour the contract. The investigation into the contract sided with Liverpool. Suarez, who has admitted that he never really wanted to play for Arsenal is persuaded to stay with an improved contract and a promise of a future move to his desired destination, Barcelona. Liverpool later brag that the clause was… Read more »

Gutbukket Deffrolla

You trust the bitey racist’s version of events? He wanted to go to Barcelona. He ALWAYS wanted to go to Barcelona.

Mootilated

I never understood why people mocked the bid. Logic dictates that one would be stupid to offer a rival 10-20m more than what they themselves consider to be the asking price for a player rather than the ACTUAL evaluated amount of a player. If someone were to ask me to pay 5 pounds for an item and I were to give him 10 and tell him to keep the change instead of giving him 5 pounds, its more than likely people will call me an idiot for giving him 10.

neutral

maybe they mocked it because it failed

Andy Mack

“Lazio’s president De Laurentis”, so he’s no longer involved with Napoli then? “selling Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus… Look how that turned out”, It hasn’t ‘turned out’. It may do but at the moment it’s only the media rather than the clubs commenting. John Henry admitted during a sports conference in the states, that he’s lied. Suarez did indeed have a buy out clause of ‘Over £40m’ which we met. He was trying to buy time to make Suarez a better offer, but if Suarez had pushed then they’d have had to let him go. However Suarez had a long discussion… Read more »

Andy Mack

“Suárez was quoted saying “'[Liverpool] did all they could to get me to stay, but playing and living in Spain, where my wife’s family live, is a lifelong dream and ambition. I believe now the timing is right.” From his autobiography published 2014

Andy Mack

The Higuaín deal has now been announced on the Juve website, so it’s only now fact.

Trez

Running out of options. So Higuain, Lacazette, icardi, morata are all unavailable. We might as well not bother anymore because I don’t see anyone else capable of making the desired impact needed. Giroud for the 5th season in a row.
Guess now we have to go all out on Mahrez now.

Nico

There is no reason to be upset chief. There is always Sanogo

Jaqen H'ghar

A man would like to see Ramsey as a false-nine in front of Sanchez, Ozil and Mahrez. A man believes that Ramsey is a good finisher and he probably won’t play in midfield ahead of Cazorla, Elneny, Coquelin or Xhaka.

Super Joshi

Thumbing up just for the name.

Crash Fistfight

A striker has no name.

Nico

What about a woman pal?

Oxo

Maybe the story-killing news was just a move in a poker game. Can’t read my…

Fabulous

Anything beyond €45mil for Lacazette is a joke, much like how United are willing to pay £100mil on one single player. I’d rather Wenger shifts his focus to a goal scoring wideman to complement Giroud, Draxler, Jese, Griezmann.

Paulo-Di-Gunnio

Griezmann would cost somewhere in the region of €60M.

emob

No, he wouldn’t.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

Fuck Me!!! Griezmann’s agent is on Arseblog!!

wele

the way you throw Griezmann in there as though he is somehow attainable is hilarious.

Yacine

Or Draxler, for that matter

Anup

Sorry for the ignorance, but why wouldn’t Draxler leave?

Arteta's front incisor

Wolfsburg have said he’s not for sale at any cost and absolutely staying bla bla etc. They also just sold a different key attacking player to Dortmund in Schurrle, so it seems very unlikely they’d do it again given the madness market. Still possible I guess but very unlikely, especially since we are so reluctant to pay over the odds

Anup

Thank you for explaining! loving the name too hahah

Geefive

Exactly. Griezmann just signed an extension a month ago…

Fabulous

Congratulations, you’re one of those idiots who’s brainwashed into settling for second best.

Vincent Kompany's Forehead/Jamie Vardinho

Atletico can afford to pay very high wages, Koke is on £192k p/w.

Griezmann, although he plays in a different position to Pogba, is arguably the greater talent, so if Pogba is going for £100mil how much do you think Griezmann, who’s recently signed a new contract extension until 2021, will go for?

Even if Atletico would sell, why would he come to Arsenal?

Atletico have ambition and unlike Arsenal, are a threat to their domestic league and are a contender for the Champions League trophy every season?

So with all due respect, who do you think is the idiot?

wele

Thank you for your kind words good sir.

CJGooner

OL probably taking negotiation position here otherwise why categorically reject report that 48m rejected? Their fans would be more impressed by them turning down a large sum for their star player than a small one. Also, Arsenal won’t be too bothered about it going public as is is evidence of them working on a real transfer for a decent player. Furthermore it may flush out thei first choice striker target.

Mpls

And show ambition to their own players and any considering signing such as, oh, say, Mahrez?

Udit Arora

We have got to look at this report cautiously.

As always, I’m sure AW is looking elsewhere to resolve the striker shortage by creating a smokescreen here. What I’m afraid of is just with the case of Suarez-Ozil, we may end up spending that money on another position rather than a striker…

One thing’s for sure, we’re ready to pay market prices for players such as Lacazette. Surely, he is not worth any more than what we have bid.

Bring Back Seaman

That’s the problem I think. I think Arsene and his vision of Arsenal is not to dick about in the window, use Column inches’ to play the Barca DNA game and when clubs/agents/players dick about in pubic like Vardy did, he loses interest. I honestly believe he gets a flavour for the persons character by the way they conduct business and if they make things difficult it turns him off them. That’s why Arsenal never announce transfer fee’s, never announce a transfer till everything is concluded, never discuss transfers in public or anything like that – which is also partly… Read more »

Mpls

Now I have a picture in my mind of Mou driving slowly past country estates peering through a half-open tinted window.

Anup

Maybe that was the point of the Vardy bid? Obviously Wenger knew he and Walcott shared the same agent and would therefore try to maximise the deals on offer to Vardy from Leicester…thereby triggering a scenario where even if he turned us down (which he evidently did) the other two main players would begin to be sought-after in much more of a frenzy?
Win-win situation in my opinion, even though Vardy turned us down perhaps we have done enough to unsettle the likes of Mahrez…

Or maybe I should stop smoking whatever they have at the Emirates.

PFo

Have to laugh at the whole “creating a smokescreen” ridiculousness. Maybe, very rarely in extraordinary circumstances, clubs put in a bid for a player with the SOLE PURPOSE of distracting other clubs/agents from the players they really want, but as a common strategy, this strikes me as either (a) a level of Machiavellian brilliance that almost no one could successfully and consistently pull off, or (b) a bizarre and amateurish way to dick around during the transfer window that no self-respecting employee of a club would attempt on a regular basis.

Ali

I think this deal now depends on the player, if he really wants to move to Arsenal he will push for it. I am confident this will happen.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

Yes, because Lacazette will surely want to come to Arsenal and win the striker’s spot from Giroud when he already failed to do exactly that for France.

Am I the only person in the world who can’t see Lacazette and Giroud happily coexisting in the same team?

North Bank Gooner

Nope, you are not alone! I don’t think Lacazette is as good as Giroud, and the figures being bandied about for him are ridiculous. OL can keep him, If Arsene had bid 48m even I would wonder what he had been smoking!!

wele

I don’t doubt Lyon will be resolute in their stance. However, unlike West Ham – who placed a bid for Lacazette earlier in the window – Arsenal would be a genuinely appealing option to the player on a personal level, and his desire to leave Lyon may ultimately force Aulas’ hand.

Ultimately, this feels like one which may happen – and though Lacazette himself is not a ‘world class’ forward, he would definitely improve Arsenal’s strike force.

Chamakh

Could be a tactical bid in the hope of Lacazette forcing himself out of the club. Arsenal would be a significant upgrade on Lyon and he would probably almost double his wage too. Let’s play the waiting game.

Paulo-Di-Gunnio

Waiting game sucks, let’s play hungry hungry hippos.

Alex

Honestly I’m French and Lacazette was very good two seasons ago but utterly disappointing last season. He can stay in Lyon… if he is “irremplaçable” there…

Double98

i’m glad you were honest about your nationality there, i’d hate to think you were belgian.

Mark

I personally would go for Draxler as his price wouldn’t be as high as it is for some pure strikers and he can play with wing (so Giroud can get his games in and Welbeck too when he returns) and potentially striker when Giroud needs a break or we need something different.

Trez

Draxler is worth 50m.

Gutbukket Deffrolla

He’s not a pure striker so he’d be cheap? Draxler?

You want us to buy Draxler to fill in for Giroud and Wellbeck and give them a chance to get a few games in, and as he knows he isn’t a pure striker he’ll be happy with that?

Art Vanderlay

Neither Henry or Robin VP were striker’s at the time of purchase.

Arteta's front incisor

Copying from above – “Wolfsburg have said he’s not for sale at any cost and absolutely staying bla bla etc. They also just sold a different key attacking player to Dortmund in Schurrle, so it seems very unlikely they’d do it again given the madness market. Still possible I guess but very unlikely, especially since we are so reluctant to pay over the odds”

Nico

Bit unprofessional behavior from OL. Good luck getting other bids in the future from other clubs if you’re going to cry about it

Crew

He can be Arsenal’s Aguero. Probably won’t reach Aguero’s level but he has the attributes to be one of the best.
Fast, strong, good technique, lethal finisher, can dribble past players.
Very similar to Aguero. Get it done.

Cas

If he was anything like Aguero I’m sure Real Madrid and a few others would be in the picture, too

AusDrexler

Surely we can take a positive from this…. Arsenal are atleast making efforts to recruit what the team needs. Unfortunately the market is rediculous so Arsene needs to spend double that to get the players which sucks dead donkeys balls to be honest

Alexstratz

Well good luck selling your overrated player.

snowcalla

First, 35m is not 48m. Big difference is probably what OL is really saying. Second, is Lacazette really that much of an improvement for us?

Frank the Gooner

Why do people think we can pay them 48 million for Lacazette?
They’re saying that we didnt bid 48, in fact we bid 35, and they subsequently turned it down.
They’re saying Lacazette is an important part of their squad and they don’t want to sell him… he’s only worth 35 million, but its comparable to us selling Giroud at the moment… He’s the best we have and we’d battle getting a replacement that suits the role… We could try and up the bid but i doubt this is going anywhere…

heihaci

spend the money on Mahrez. I’m sure Giroud Sanchez and Mahrez will provide more goals than last season

Geezy

Personally I hope Wenger doesn’t take this public rejection as a sign to quit his pursuit. Truthfully we know that a Chelsea etc. would not quit on the first attempt to get the player they want. Go in bigger now, because in this market everyone knows a mere £29m is chicken feed for an established striker.

Jeremy O Dwyer

A wise man once said, ‘If your first offer is accepted, you’ve probably offered too much’. 🙂

Geezy

Also, if we go into the season with only Giroud up top, I may suddenly fancy a bottle of bleach as a beverage.

Third Plebeian

I did that this past spring as our title challenge collapsed. Really cleaned me out.

Tasmanian Jesus

Mahrez and Gabriel Barbosa thanks.
Or just, Icardi!

mo974

Lacazette is not worth much more than that.BBC sports sayng Arsene is on Wissam Ben Yedder. It will be a good alternative. Pocket size poacher, very gifted technically and young. And playing for a modest club in ligue 1 he could be very cheap.He is a gem.

John

A bit of context for Lacazette (I’m an arsenal fan living in lyon, so I watch a lot of OL (live and on tv): So it’s interesting to see ideas about the apparent quality of lacazette: he’s not being touted as a world class player, and it’s true ( but, seriously, how he didn’t get in the french team ahead of Gignac! fuck me) . But he’s probably at the same level as Giroud. But a different player: great movement, bit of a poacher, good speed, bit of a dribbler (and he links up pretty well and for a small… Read more »

Vincent Kompany/Jamie Vardinho

Ben Yedder or Aboubakar seem good bets

Some guy has already included Arsenal on Ben Yedder’s Wikipedia page! Lmao

Vincent Kompany's Forehead/Jamie Vardinho

Oh and his contract expires in 2017 so he’s valued at £10m by Bordeaux, perfect Wenger signing!”

neutral

I wonder what he is valued at by Toulouse?

Vincent Kompany's Forehead/Jamie Vardinho

🙂

Trez

Ben Yedder is too lightweight. Would make sense only if we sign him with a RW like Mahrez. But Wenger will NEVER sign a RW with his favorites Ramsey, Wilshere, Ox penciled down for that role.
This is turning into a nightmare. 5 seasons with Giroud as first choice…

Vincent Kompany's Forehead/Jamie Vardinho

You need different types of forwards for different kinds of matches.

Target men like Giroud, and more mobile forwards like Ben Yedder.

With that being said he may need to bulk up if he does come to Arsenal

Squiggle

He could work behind Giroud, like Griezmann at the Euros.

Buck

Lyon: the club Arsenal made an offer worth …
The Arsenal:the bitch came back

Goonermonkey

He’s scored 76 goals in the last 3 seasons. I hope we do offer an improved bid. He’s quality and Arsenal can afford to splash the cash that would land him + Mahrez + CB (Get well sooon Per)

Coquelin's third leg

Is ‘irreplaceable’ transfer season code for ‘add another 10 million?’

Vincent Kompany's Forehead/Jamie Vardinho

yes

Matt

I can’t help but thinking that if the £29.5m bid had been made by Guardiola, Mourinho or Conte the player would’ve gone there.
For us to really challenge for the league they have to pay over the odds, there’s no other way around it. Small improvements like Wenger does are not enough, as seen in the last few seasons.

Triumph the Comic Insult Dog

This is a great story…for me to poop on!

Jack4343

Lukaku?

Publicgooner

If the hammers bid €40 a month ago and had that offer rejected. Does Wenger expect them to accept a €35 bid? He needs to get serious and make a legitimate offer.

PFo

I haven’t read all the other comments yet, so apologies if I’m repeating someone else’s point, but I’ve got to say I’m surprised at Blogs’s insistence that this “draws a line under” this possible move and shows it just ain’t going to happen. More generally, I think Blogs allows himself to be slightly guided by how much he personally rates a player when deciding if a move is likely or not (that’s right, I’m suggesting a bit of bias, but don’t mean that as an insult: it’s only as much bias as is common to all of humanity). After all,… Read more »

Indian Gooner

Ok.. Now that is an improvement for sure..
We are at least trying to do something..
This guy is certainly not worth more than 35 million.. Let us as fans stop going over-board..
What’s up with Aubameyang or Lukaku?Why isn’t anybody talking about them?
At least those two guys are worth the money..

Johar

Not Lukaku – not an improvement on those we have already.

Matt

Aubameyang has declared yesterday or the day before that the only club he’s moving to is Real Madrid so forget him. Lukaku would certainly be an improvement on paceless Giroud, no matter how many lovers Giroud has in this forum.

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