It’s being reported that Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has met with Arsenal this week to discuss the situations of Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud.
Earlier this week the Gunners were told they’d have to stump up somewhere in the region of £60m for the France striker who scored 36 goals last season, while further reports said that Olivier Giroud could be used as a make-weight in the deal.
Now, according to Le Progres (a local publication), Aulas travelled to London with advisor Gerard Houllier to discuss matters with the club.
Lyon president Aulas & advisor Houllier were in London this week to discuss Lacazette with #Arsenal. Also enquired about Giroud (Le Progres)
— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) June 14, 2017
If Arsenal were to stump up that kind of money for Lacazette, it would likely be a sign that they have ended their pursuit of Kylian Mbappé, subject of a €100m offer two weeks ago.
The 26 year old is a player that has long been on Arsene Wenger’s radar, but until now the Arsenal manager has been reluctant to take his interest into the realms of a concrete bid.
Video: Is Alexandre Lacazette worth £60m?
Whether the paucity of options is playing a part remains to be seen, as top strikers appear to be in short supply at this moment in time.
It also seems unlikely that Arsenal will be willing to let Giroud go, unless the money on offer from Lyon allows them to bring in Lacazette without ending the Mbappé chase.
The 30 year old has spoken about wanting more playing time, but proved a valuable member of the squad last season – particularly from the bench.
Oli should stay! Frankly, I do not think Lacazette is worth the sum of money quoted…
Who cares… we need a striker who can score goals, and he got almost 40 last year. He also has a much higher conversion rate of clear cut chances than our current strikers. And if we don’t spend the money, what exactly are we saving it for?
28 league goals, 10 of which were pens.
18 from open play.
Not saying we shouldn’t buy him, but not sure he’s worth £60m.
But with better creative players around him at Arsenal he might score whole lot.
And with better defenders against him he might score way less. Who knows. But is it worth taking a 60 Mio risk? I don’t think so tbh.
The only players in our squad who are convincing taking penalties are bench weapon Giroud and perma-injured Cazorla. Nobody else fills me with much confidence. If Lacazette goes into the starting xi and bangs in the penalties (we got a few last season) with ease I’m down with that.
Ramsey’s our new specialist…
I don’t recall any penalties awarded in our favour this past season. So it really didn’t matter that our numbers 1 and 2 penalty takers weren’t available.
Six pens in the league this year, seven last year. Quite a lot.
Two years ago he was about £25 mill and we all thought that was a bit much. Last summer it was £40 mill and we thought it was a bit much. Now it’s £60 mill, so if we don’t get him now and can’t find an alternative we could be looking at £80 mill if he’s the only option again next summer. No point procrastinating, just get it done and start focusing on other positions.
It doesn’t matter what he’s worth
He’s basically the only striker on the market. We wouldn’t be better off buying no one.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang,70mil the asking price for him.He is worth it isnt he ?
Not sure he’d come, also hear he’s a bit of a prick.
The idea that we can get anyone like Aubemayeng, Griezmann, Benzema, etc. is ridiculous. Why would they come to Arsenal?
Sir, you please tell us who is worth 60 million, we’ll go buy him. Mbappe is not worth 100, Higuain was not worth 40 or whatever at the time, Suarez of course was worth precisely 40 and one because we used a highly advanced algorithm in case they tried to pull the old “I don’t have change here’s a toffee instead” routine. Here’s a clue – fugazi,fugayzi, it’s a wazi, it’s a woozi, it’s (pfftt) fairy dust, it’s not real. What is real is having a goal scorer vs not having a goal scorer. I’m not saying having one is… Read more »
Is that you rambling Pete?
Let’s be clear: he scored 37 goals in all competitions. 37 goals. 28 plus 7 in Europe plus 2 in the cups.
Penalties or no, that’s a brilliant season for anyone not named Messi or Ronaldo.
it’s not just that he scored 37 last season. he had a record of 23, 31 and 22 the previous seasons, in one of europe’s top-5-leagues. so it’s about consistency.
deschamps has been heavily criticised by media and fans for constantly ignoring him.
there’s no point in arguing if giroud or lacazette is the better striker; they’re just totally different kind of players. we all know the qualities of giroud in the air and as a team-player. lacazette is fast, technically gifted and keeps his cool till the very end. i think he’d fit very well into our team.
and I think he’s too small for the EPL.
I would never get rid of Giroud. Rotate him into some starts and keep him as a super-sub! It would actually give Giroud enough playing time and he’d be rested for the World Cup.
This exactly! Too many people turning their noses up at him – he is better than what we have and we know Arsene isn’t a man to spend what he can’t afford, so I would rather have a £50m asset that we paid £60m for scoring goals than Welbeck as our first choice striker and a big lump of cash in the bank
When he’s better than what we’ve got why he’s sitting on the bench for France when what we’ve got scored 17 goals in his last 18 starts for them?
A most excellent point, thank you. Numbers don’t lie.
A better fit for our system is what I meant. Giroud scores more goals than Welbeck, but Welbeck is a better fit for the system due to his running and movement. Lacazette offers intelligent running + goals and is therefore a better fit and there for an improvement on what we have
For the fifty-millionth time: the France point is IRRELEVANT. Giroud’s scoring goals for France shows he’s a good player (but we knew that already, just like we know from watching him for 5 years that he’s got serious limitations), but Deschamps not giving Lacazette a game tells us approximately f*ck all about his qualities.
Seriously tired of unoriginal people making this same simple-minded point again and again.
Olivier has a better goals per game record for France than Thierry Henry
He’s not better than Giroud. Different type of striker sure, but the end result is he will not produce more goals or assists than Giroud. A waste of money.
I am 100% confident that if he comes, and stays fit, you’ll be proven wrong.
I would be really upset to see Giroud go and Walcott stay! Why don’t they want Walcott as part of the deal?! We should offer him….
Because they dont want him perhaps?
Giroud’s also 30. With all due (abundant) respect and affection for the guy, in realistic footballing terms, for a striker he is “old”. Lacazette is in his athletic prime for the next 3-4 years.
if giroud kept up his pretty decent scoring record and we had another playing matching that, thats quite a few extra goals, i definetely wouldnt want lacazette instead of giroud, but both of them might be good
Can’t be quite sure about the lump of cash in the bank with Stanley motherfucking Kroenke around.
40 goals in a poverty league with a team made for him
the so called poverty league had a side in the cl semi finals and crushed man shitty in the quarter of cl just saying. and yesterday some kids from that poverty league(Lemar Mbappé among others ) ran riot the England defense; and to Lacazette’s credit, he ‘s been on thirty + goals each season from some time now. The pl is the richest league no doubt about it but when it comes to football and young and up and coming talent, its better to look on the continent .
Correct. A 2 team league meaning 4 competitive games a season. Better than Giroud? Case not proven I’m afraid.
When will people get over this Sky Sports dream that the PL is the only real league? PSG and Monaco are excellent teams, especially the latter. Lyon are very good and got to the SF of the Europa League. Nice had an excellent season (hence our pursuit of Sarri) and Marseille while poor in recent years are historically very strong. Fucking Leicester won our league last year and then outperformed every English club in the CL this season! Please remember this is the same poverty league that Bernardo Silva, Thomas Lemar, MBAPPE, Mendy, Veratti, Cavani and so many other “top… Read more »
Ligue 1 isn’t a bad league, given players like Hazard, Koscielny, Kante, Ibra (this is a stretch I know) to the prem to name a few, as well as players like Mbappe, Cavani, Umtitti to Europe…
But your bias against Ligue 1 can be forgiven, but ur point about “with a team made for him” is really dumb. Having a team made to facilitate your style of play to get the best out of does not make you a bad player. And there’s every reason to believe he’d be a focal point of our team if he came to us
i always thought that lack of worldclass striker is not our main problem . sure having one is really good , but in my opinion lack of alternative striker that can compete with giroud is our main problem . giroud is a solid striker , but he always have these hot and cold moments . and when he’s out of form we have nobody that could realistically replace him from starting lineup . welbeck was perenially injured for much of last two seasons , never mind his lack of goals . so when giroud was out of form , he… Read more »
There’s a fine difference between spending and wasting.
If I were Wenger, I would offer them Welbeck instead of Giroud as part of the deal.
To be honest, I would be against it as I think the possibility that Welbeck kinda explodes on his scoring front is bigger than the one that Lacazette will take the PL by storm. We have seen with Walcott who really missed some sitters in his early years that you can become way more clinical over time. Think Welbeck has everything needed to be a top quality striker. But if we get Lacazette, I would see him as the solution if you need someone who does the runs and Giroud if you need something different, more direct. Think Welbz game… Read more »
is there not a way to strike a deal without having to part ways with Oli?
Give em Theo ?
Where’s Sanogo when you need him.
He should stay if the team plays to his strengths. France have shown what he can do with quality delivery in the box, if we don’t play to his strengths and therefore don’t give him enough game, he’s got every right to want to leave and we should in turn find a high quality striker.
Does it really matter? It’s not your money.
The money comes from sponsership deals and tv rights, etc… that’s true but where do the companies, who fork out that money, get it from?
That’s right; customers. I’m sure that some of those customers are Arsenal fans, dumdum.
Everyone’s got a lot of money and there genuinely isn’t the quality out there. As a result, players like Lacezette become world beaters when in fact they are consistent goal scorers in mediocre leagues. I’d be very concerned if this one has legs…
Very few players are worth today’s transfer fees,but that’s what you have to pay!!
Well, at least you’ve supported your opinion with evidence and thoughtful, in-depth analysis.
For me personally, I have not seen anything in Lacazette that I have not seen in the likes of Lucas Perez. They are similar types of players, both quick and both very good finishers. So why pay £60M while we are not playing Perez? It is baffling. If we are to go in for a striker, it should be on the top level – i.e. Mbappe, Griezmann – £100M plus. Otherwise, it is just not worth it and better to promote from within.
Hmmmm, does this signal that Sanchez is going? i can live with it if he does, so long as we keep Ozil for the assists.
Could be incentive for him to stay if he sees calls players coming in
Class players not calls
However this plays out, Giroud must stay. Wouldn’t make sense to solve one problem and create another.
Need both! Grioud offers something else we don’t have so better to have more / varied striker choices to help compete as much as possible.
I really want lacazette but not enough to lose our HFB.
Yes! Buy lacazette!
No! Don’t sell Oli!
We need to keep Oli, he hasn’t quite hit 100 goals for us yet! Legend
I’m more then happy to take a chance on Lacazette, it’s half the risk of Mbappe financially and with a good few seasons under his belt. No way should we let Giroud be part of the deal unless he’s seriously unhappy being a ‘super sub’. Aubameyang would be my first choice in the £60mill range but he really doesn’t seem interested in the pl/Arsenal so we need to move on and get something done sooner rather then later. I’d rather Lacazette if he’s available now, and a top top quality midfielder over risking £120 million on Mbappe and wasting a… Read more »
Have you seen Mbappe play? It’s ridiculous to compare Lacazette to him. If you don’t consider pens Lacszette has scored 18 league goals and Mbappe 15. But Mbappe has also scored 6 in the CL and with that has proven that he can do it against the big guns too. The only thing they have in common is that they’re both French. Lacazette is a good striker. Nothing more, nothing less. Mbappe has everything to be the best striker on this planet in a couple of years, if you ask me.
Yes, I’ve seen him play, and rate him highly, that’s why I didn’t compare them as players.
I just made a point of comparing their price tags and likelihood of actually getting deals over the line.
I’ve said before he’s the closest I’ve seen to Henry and would love him at Arsenal, I was just trying to have a realistic opinion.
Yes Lacazette is good and Mbappe potentially world class…I guess I’m just worried about another higuain/Suarez scenario where we end up with sweet FA.
But that’s the typical schizophrenia of Arsenal fans. If we’re more after the cheaper solutions (even though the problem with Lacazette is he’s not exactly a bergain but they don’t see to exist anymore in this market of madness) everybody is saying we should be after the best, we should have more ambition, we should be in for the Griezmans and Pogbas, we are The Arsenal, etc. But when we are after the big, big names and it doesn’t go through after 2 weeks and we hear that Real is in for that guy too (what will always be the… Read more »
There’s zero concrete evidence we’ve given up on Mbappe. I think it’s more likely we’re lining up Lacazette as much as possible so that when we hear the news (probably in the next couple weeks, after Mbappe has a think about what he wants to do) we can move swiftly to plan b. Or maybe we’re going to try to nab both, already assuming that Sanchez will go (a mistake, if that’s how we’re thinking, but I wouldn’t be opposed to both Mbappe and Lacazette coming, with or without Sanchez).
much appreciated old bean! Have an upvote 😉
The Higuain/Suarez comparison is an apt one: Suarez is by far the greater talent, obviously world class and someone who gives you so much more than just goals. When he was leaving Madrid, few thought Higuain was really “world class” (whatever that means), though the numbers showed someone who scored consistently. But over the years in Italy Higuain proved that–whether or not you say he’s world class–he’s a difference maker in front of goal, the sort of player that (in all likelihood) would have had a very big impact on our team if we had got him when we had… Read more »
Not forgetting the massive profit Napoli got on him! Although we probably would have run his contract down and sold him for £5million and a bag of quavers! Haha
Lacazette also scored 7 in Europe and 2 in the cups, so that’s 37 in total. And he was involved in winning a fair few of those pens as well. Let’s not cherry pick numbers to make your case. Mbappe looks like a one in a generation type talent (though it’s still VERY early days). But Lacazette looks (to me) like the sort of player who could get us 25 goals a season, plus he’s skillful, quick, and mobile. So what’s the problem with going for one if the other isn’t available, and considering the fact we’ve been in desperate… Read more »
I like the cut of your jib, PFo.
exactly . never mind that mbappe is a huge risk for us , he has said publicly that winning champions league is his priority which removes arsenal from the equation . besides he’s got his eyes firmly on madrid , though why th heck would he go all the way to spain to warm their ridiculously talented bench when he could be the main guy for 99% of rest of the teams in europe is puzzling.
The bloke has consistantly scored 30 goals for the last few seasons in a Lyon squad no where near their best of recent times. He hasnt exactly had Juninho feeding him through balls, so itd be frightening with our midfield. 60 million quid seems about spot on in todays transfer market.
Seems a better option than lukaku or morata for similar type of figures that are being suggested.
Lacazette worth 60 million and here I am striving hard for my daily bread. Lack of top strikers as mentioned I guess is playing an important role here. I hope he would be atleast worth half that money.. if he ends up here. Giroud has to stay no matter what. He is atleast more reliable than an unproven striker. Baffled by how many people in here actually think Lacazette is that amount of money. Not writing him off.. just saying that I am not that much confident about Lacazette at the moment. Would be happy if I am proven to… Read more »
HFB as makeweight? Fuck right off.
Giroud is legitimately just a better player. Never been a fan of Lacazette really but I’d rather sign him than end up with no one again
I remain unconvinced that Lacazette is a significant upgrade on Giroud.
In fact, I might be mad but I’d rather have a close look at Martial at United. Not given a fair crack at United, he was banging them in at the start of 2015/16. Offer something tasty for him, he’s 21, quick and skillful and would actually get a game at Arsenal.
I remain unconvinced that he’s an updated at all. Let alone a significant one.
Brilliant argument.
Lacazette will flop
Is he worth £60m? Probably not.
Should we buy him for £60m? Probably yes.
Lacazette comes in then Giroud will probably leave. They’ll both be competing for a place in the French team for the WC. Wenger should never have got our hopes up high re Mbappe.
Lacazette looks like the best bet at the moment. We can’t get Aubamayeng, Lukaku is going to Chelsea, Belotti might be too expensive, Morata is going to manure.
Oh well…
oli is already in his 30’s ..it would be wise to make him part of the deal for lacazette ..considering oli won’t get the playing time he is hoping if he stays.
I would like to keep Giroud but if it can save us 20-30 million I would part exchange Giroud for Lacazette I think he will get us more goals in the season than Giroud.
Hopefully we had some scouts at the FIFA U-20’s and found our own Mbappe at a much lower price. Maybe our own Zidane too….
If kroenke wants to spend 60m on Laccazette and 180m Mbappe I say buy em all. It’s about time he did something for the club whether it’s pleasing the fans or feeling guilty about the consultation fees paid to himself, who cares.
Wake up your dreaming.
Kroenke isn’t paying a penny for any of these players. The money is entirely raised by the club, not the owner. If only he would put some money in…
If Lacazette is so much better why does he have 11 caps and 1 goal for France compared to Giroud’s 64 and 27? I realize Lacazette is younger, but he has been established at Lyon for years and yet has barely played for France. Is he really that much better to spend 60M? Ligue 1 goals don’t always translate to premier league
You have to compare the systems they play and how a player fits into that system – not just the simplistic Giroud plays more so he must be better. France effectively plays a 4-4-2 with Greizman playing as a second striker off Giroud. Giroud is much better suited to that role than it would be to have 2 small fast strikers playing together. Lacazette is a much better version of Welbeck – it means teams can’t play a super high line against us because of his speed. Giroud is more suited to pinging in crosses into the box. They are… Read more »
What Atom says. Also, here’s a radical thought: maybe Deschamps has got it wrong??
He’s been trying to flog off Lacazette for the longest time. Lacazette is the real deal scoring for Lyon. Still you have to consider the fact that it is no coincidence that Deschamp starts Giroud for France over Lacazette and indeed the scandal clad Benzema. He is no Plan B for France and he has reaped rich rewards for them 16 goals in last 16 games. Not that the media bothers to think. Yesterday against England, Giroud was effective bringing in both Dembele and Mbappe lining up almost in a 4-4-2 with Mbappe next to him. One (wrongly disallowed goal)… Read more »
1. The scorpion goal does not show anything; Giroud is slow and will always be slow. This doesn’t mean he’s a bad player, but it is a limitation.
2. There’s a difference between pace and mobility (e.g. Ramsey and Elneny don’t have much pace, but they are very mobile). Giroud constrains our attack, not just because he lacks pace, but because he’s immobile.
For the price, I’d throw an extra 10m and make a play for Draxler at PSG, offer him full start and test PSG’s resolve. I think the only issue here with Lacazette and Lyon is I presume the trade will significantly lower the net price for Lacazette to say 40m (if Giroud is valued at our usual sell lower price of 20m say) That would be a move on from Mbappe purchase in some ways but not an ideal one. Plus we lose Giroud who has much more function IMO leading the front line for us than Lacazette. If anything,… Read more »
I think we’d all rather swap Walcott for him. I imagine the Lyon folks are too clever for that one 🙂
Keep Olivier Giroud and sign Lacazette. Why not keep both? I hate all this if we have to buy we have to sell bullshit all the time! We are a big club, sell the deadwood and keep the decent players and OG is one of those. The man is awesome
Sell Sanchez buy Fabergas and Costa keep Giroud he is better with good delivery and Fabergas can Deliver to both along with ozil.
But guys if Lacazette is better Giroud, how come the latter is first choice striker for France. Surely he cant be six times better than Oli @ 60 mil lol
Who cares how much we buy him for? Its not our own personal money. Spend what is needed to sign any player that is needed
Wait for it protests every where.?.2
Funny how Giroud’s stock seems to have gone up so much in the off-season!
Lacazette looks quality i think we should buy him.
Happy to keep Giroud too, also quality.
His price should not matter, we go around shouting how financially strong we are. But losing Giroud, on the other side, could be a blow as I do not see another player with similar qualities in the squad.
1. What we need: 25 goals a season striker. Will Lacazette deliver that? Maybe. Maybe not.
2. Will we be weaker without Oli in the team? Do we have anyone else who can do what he does?
3. We should get a suitor for Walcott, maybe offer him to Liverpool, and bring in Lacazette.
The market indicates a price of 60m so be It. Most players are overpriced and we badly need to improve our squad. The guy does look better than Welbeck by a lot
£60m seems a fair price to me, but would prefer to see Oli stay. £120m for Mbappé seems a bit of a risk to me.
I’m genuinely surprised that there is no mention of Aubameyang. He seems like a Welbeck type – super fast, strong, mobile, made for our system – but with one huge difference. He scores lots of goals. He is the guy I’d be really excited about.
i can see us being interested but the question is at what price will dortmund sell?
We can certainly almost double his wages (can’t see him being on over 100k/w) and play football that is well suited to his skills. He would also be a certain starter which he wouldn’t at Chelsea (Costa), CIty (Aguero) United (Morata?)