Via RMCsport comes news that Arsenal have made a €50m bid for Alexandre Lacazette, a figure that is deemed acceptable by his club and which could see significant movement between Arsenal and Lyon.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas is known for driving a hard bargain, but this bid is substantial enough to spark a meeting between the two clubs early next week to finalise the transfer.
Lacazette is currently on holidays, and will take some time to reflect on a potential move to North London.
He was, of course, on the brink of signing for Atletico Madrid until their transfer ban, and he could still be tempted by a move to the Spanish capital if their punishment is reduced and they can sign players in January.
Interestingly, the report claims the source of this latest update is one ‘close to the English club’, so it’s not coming from the French side of things.
There had been previously been suggestions that Olivier Giroud could be used as part of any deal for the 26 year old, but it’s unclear as yet if the €50m tabled by the Gunners is straight cash or if it involves the French international.
There’s definitely a lot of smoke around this one now, how much fire remains to be seen, but things are solidifying on the Poo-o-Meter.
Poo-o-meter rating?
Could it be that Arsene has learned from his shortcomings of being used and abused in the transfer market? I’m thinking of the Suarez fiasco in particular. He is now having a proper option #2 if option #1 (Mbappe) fails. Smart business if you ask me.
Is it possible to just be “whelmed”? This would be a very whelming signing.
I’m a whelmed about it as the Vardy thing from last year. I’m sure he’ll be like 6/10.
A 7 actually
I was thinking more a 9 out of 11.
I was the same, but having thought about it I’m slightly less hesitant for one sole reason; the fact that atlético wanted him. They have a pretty good track record with strikers after all (gameiro the only one really who’s failed to set the world alight).
And to compare his ability to Vardy’s is ludicrous!
Exactly my thoughts. Any striker good enough for Atletico should be trustworthy. Someone there has a serious eye for central forwards.
So you trust Athletico’s scouting system more than Wenger’s?!…..so do I!!
athletico probably sees him as a fall back option if costa move falls through . but i think if it wasnt for the ban athletico to costa was a done deal . lacazzette is at the right age and good talent and he’s totally a player that arsenal can get seeing as other clubs are busy trying to get players like morata and lukaku . if wenger can do what is does best which is make lacazzette an even better player like he did with henry , anelka and even giroud this could be a quality deal for us .
“athletico probably sees him as a fall back option if costa move falls through.” No, Lacazette wasn’t their fall-back option, he was their first-choice replacement for Griezmann before the ban happened. This wasn’t speculation or something the Metro made up, it was reported by every media organization in Europe as accepted fact. The deal fell through at the very last minute because of the ban. They saw him as a replacement for Griezmann. This is a club whose recent track record of buying strikers includes: Forlan Aguero Falcao Costa Villa Griezmann Torres Arsenal fans skeptical about Lacazette should think about… Read more »
I saw Lacazette play in a pre-season game against PSG. Didn’t impress me but his statistics are good.
Those names are great and commendable successes but more recently, they’ve had less success with the likes of Cerci, Martinez and Gameiro. I’m sure people have forgotten these …errr flops.
The expectations placed on Laccazette now was same with Martinez but look how that turned out.
Arsenal was even slated at all corners for missing out on Martinez.
My point? This logic is flawed, and there’s never any guarantees so there’s always relatively justifiable skeptism associated with every transfer.
…add Gameiro and Jackson Martinez. They are do actually have the best eye for quality strikers
I was just thinking the same. Lets hope we’re right!
Sky reporting this one now as well …
Sky will report anything. Don’t believe anything in the media, they’re all scum bags. Someone wake me up when this transfer window ends. The funny part is technically speaking it hasn’t even opened yet…
True but they’re more reliable than most
Not saying much I suppose
We are desperate for news…how’s the tea lady doing? Tell me ffs! 🙂
Are we signing a new tea lady too? Cool
Who, Sky who also punt Skybet on each story? Can you not see the correlation of bullshit they love to peddle?!
Love football = hate sky.
We should rank the most unreliable. Metro would top the list for me!
Agreed on all points. Gameiro fell into the shadow as Griezmann took the star role. But hes the only striker they have had for a long time that didnt set their world on fire.
So because of the Atl. Madrid interest, Im also positive about this deal.
Jackson Martinez ?
Alright, now you’ve forced me to have to remind you and me of Jackson Martinez and Alessio Cerci; 2 of their last 3 (not counting Torres since he wasn’t new to them) striker acquisitions who didn’t even come close to Gameiro’s level of success, let alone setting the world alight.
Jackson Martinez was awful for them
Maybe Atletico thought he was 29 when he was actually 30.
Barely started a game for them, it was more that he didn’t suit their high intensity style.
An excellent player, improves the squad, perfect age, consistent.
Good move for us, if true.
I honestly don’t get this. Having watched him quite a lot over the last few years, he is seriously very similar to Walcott. In fact if Walcott had the same tgwame time I wouldn’t put it past him to score more than lacazette. He doesn’t bring much to inter play a la Walcott. But his numbers are pretty good, a la Walcott.
If he’s worth £50m Walcott is worth £45 at least. This guy will not make us into title contenders.
Hope the bid fails.
Agree, Walcott is definitely worth £45
Really? Walcott has scored more than 20 goals per season in each of the last three seasons like Lacazette has? News to me! This is what I mean by consistent. Theo is consistent inconsistently…
Didn’t Walcott once famously say ” I have consistency in patches”!? 🙂
Lacazette is much more technical gifted than Walcott
If we do keep Giroud and add Lacazette, it would be a good move. The two have complementing qualities.
What if we keep Giroud, add Lacazette but let Alexis leave. Just like in 2011 when we sold RVP and got Giroud and Podolski, we take one step forward and two steps back. I hate to sound so pessimistic and I’m trying to be positive but I just don’t see the point anymore. I’m the biggest Wenger fan but I just think our club is in a state where a new owner has to come in, tear it all apart and build a proper team. Just watching the release of our new kit reinforced that idea. Wtf was that!? How… Read more »
Wrong place to rant like that, ciao
And what is the right place for that? And who are you to decide on that?
I bet you are a hoot at parties.
Yes, it is very much correlated. Can I have what you’re taking? Or at least those pink tinted glasses to look at the club’s state of affairs?
I agree with almost everything you say, even though I rate Lacazette well above Giroud or Podolski, and think there’s a crazy outside shot Alexis will stay.
I’ll be seriously pissed if we let Ox go to Liverpool with Walcott’s overrated ass on a frankly scandalous 110k a week.
Keep your head up mate. Who knows what’ll happen but I do know that detoxing from everything football-related is a good way to get ready for what could be a crazy season.
The reason we might sell Ox and keep Wally is the contract. Can’t blame the Ox for wanting to join a CL club, don’t think we will really miss him either.
You can’t blame Alexis for wanting to go to a champions league club as he’s a fucking world class champions that deserves to play with the best and win the best trophies. He gave us everything he had and carried the team at times. Ox had half a good season with us this season and other than that he’s been constantly injured for the last 3 seasons and usually ended the season with max 6 goals scored & assisted in total. This is his first season where he’s come good. He owes us the world, we don’t owe him anything.… Read more »
I agree I don’t see how we can sell chamberlain and keep Walcott. He is inconsistent and has no ambition or desire to track back defensively and his wages are a joke.
Sorry for the rant, I’m usually more optimistic. But anyways, @luda, this may not be the place to rant, but this is the only place I comment so it’s gotta come out sometimes. Maybe I should have taken it to Arsenal Fan TV
Whilst i’m liking the names being touted around about being sought by the club, I wish everything would stop being linked with us selling Giroud. I like the guy & we should be ADDING to Giroud NOT replacing him. There’s plenty of other actual dead wood that we should be getting rid of rather than our designated striker who’s a French International. Do I see OG being a constant starter…probably not. But, he’s damn useful to have around. We need to have options & variety available, & yes we have Welbeck, but fitness is a huge concern there, & OG… Read more »
Defo. Keep giroud. And buy. Didier de champ, has giroud as first choice striker for France , the kid -m napped second ( age thing ) lacazette third choice! Des champ knows expert football. France play with loads of pace and it works with giroud. Arsenal have loads of pace so should work too. If giroud played cf all season we would have finished top four
Ignore auto correct spelling)
Lacazette is not a good option
Do you have a rational argument to support your claim, or are you just mindlessly emoting?
If you don’t consider pens his goal record isn’t that amazing and that in a team that is completely playing to his strengths, knows him very well as he is there for ages and plays in a league where it’s not that hard to score goals if you’re not playing PSG or maybe Monaco. That all seems to let Deshamps think that Oli is the better striker and I think so too, to be honest. He would score more goals in the French league, if you ask me. Even without pens. Lacazette is a good striker. Don’t get me wrong.… Read more »
Don’t forget that he was injured for 3 months with a big injury when the season started and we laughed at their president after he made public hiw he rejected our lughable offeer and one week after he was injured and we luagh at him for not selling.
And he came back after injury and still scored the goals.
With us he will be much better lyon is mediocore now.
Yeah, I must admit I’m a bit hesitant too.
I think its mainly as I’ve not seen him much, at least against top class opposition. The fact that he doesnt make the French team either also casts doubts.
I’ve seen him compared to Defoe. Is there much more to his game than goals?
Btw this is not a criticism, I just genuinely havent seen him play much…
1. It’s 28 in the league but 37 in all competitions. Of those, 11 were pens, so that’s 26 non-pen goals. And +20 league goals for three years straight. 2. As I’ve said in numerous posts on numerous threads on here, the comparison with Giroud for France thing is at best highly circumstantial evidence. Plenty of coaches prefer one player over another without that meaning the first player is better, or even as good as, the second. This could be because the coach is dumb, or because he has a certain way he likes to play given his other personnel.… Read more »
Not sure I’d say that, probably ‘good at best’. Can see him getting 15-20goals max, struggling against big teams but being pretty good in possession, relatively clinical (a lot of his goals were penalties), and adding a bit more to our style of play.
Personally, if we can’t get any of the Aubs, Bels, Lews, Luks, or the highly coveted Mbappe I’d stick with Perez as an option at CF for another year and reinforce the wings, making Sanchez our striker in most games.
This goes to show how much nonsense is being bandied about. A previous article talked about how Mpabbe deal was close or at the least Arsenal were confident. Now this? As if they would sign both. Best just to ignore these publications until a verified source presents information.
I think Arsenal would sign both if we lost Alexis and perhaps another forward this summer (like Theo or Ox).
It’s almost all made up
A source close to the club (literally close to the club. He lives on a bench in Finsbury Park) reckons that Arsenal are going to sign everyone. Everyone in the whole world. And some chimps too, in case they become somehow super intelligent, and decide to want to play football. A chimp goalie might have some advantages as they have sort of hands for feet.
Chimps would kick ass
Or throw poo …Or is it poop, arseblog please clear this up
Are you suggesting a Chimpions league?
Hah! Chimpions League ?
Hahaha 🙂 this made my day buddy, thanks! We could replace our manager as well with a chimp, as a chimp might see glaring issues in the squad before a stubborn old ass that we have at the moment, and rectify them.
Would the chimp goalkeeper be red carded if he touches the ball handled with his feet outside of the box? I’m curious
Insert a bracket somewhere in the middle
So your saying we need some good goal hangers?
I would imagine that they have more than one iron in any fire at any given time. There are any number of contingencies that need to be catered for. 1. The dreaded thought that Ozil or Alexis would leave creating a loss of one forward option 2. Giroud, Perez and possibly Walcott forcing a move away due to lack of playing time. 3. MBAPPE IS clearly seen as the “coup” signing even at his tender age. It’s like signing a Neymar. But if it falls through you will want at least another “name” striker to be there to cushion the… Read more »
Alex Hleb; Alex song; Alex Oxo Chamberlain; Alex Sanchez;…..Alex Lacazette.
I think we will sign him
You forgot Iwobi
…Oh and Alex Iwobi
what does this tell giroud if it goes ahead think he will knocking on wengers door this could force him out is he a player that we would let go to another prem side ? but if it meant signing him to keep sanchez and ozil id take it
i would keep Giroud as an excellent plan B. but seems he wont accept that role.
I don’t see why people worry about Giroud, Wenger will play Lacazette on the wings. I think we might lose some big players and everyone will be disappointed, the we’ll play really well to Christmas time, flirting with 1st place. In February we willl collapse completely before scraping to 2nd. Fans will then laud Wenger for getting us back in the CL and start talking about “next year”
Scraping to second? Sorry I’m drunk. 4th
You say it like it’s a bad thing
Only a good move if we can also keep Giroud.
If what L’Equipe said about Real making space for Mbappe is true then this is the next logical step. You can’t argue with his goal-scoring record. Hopefully we wrap this up and move onto our next targets
Honestly I wouldn’t mind financing Mbappe’s move to Madrid if they sell us one of their BBC. One Bale please. It’s not that far fetched a thought. Remember the Özil deal?
Agreed but the only one we would realistically go for is Benzema, and if he’s to leave perhaps PSG would be a more likely destination? Bale could be a great Sanchez replacement if he leaves but as a former Spud I doubt he’d come. Ronaldo with all the pomp and ceremony he’d bring probably wouldn’t be a very Wenger signing.
Serio you would like Bale ? The most overrated player in the world. No thank you.
Alexstratz, I keep thinking we’ll get Bale out of this too
I cam here to poop…wheres the poo meter?
It is just starting to get so boring. Fucking transfer windows I swear.
Blogs please make a post only when we actually sign someone.. Pleease….
I know.. even you are starting to get distressed!
Oh I don’t know. The 10 penalties he scored brings him to 18 goals from open play, which averages as 0.6 goals per game, just over the goal per two games that is often said about top strikers. 18 goals in 30 games is pretty good, but I question whether it’s the level of quality that will give our squad the big improvement it needs, especially as he’s going up against much better defenders.
Then again, Costa had one good season at Atletico before being a big addition to Chelski. Who knows.
It’s 28 in the league, but 37 in all competitions (7 in Europe, 2 in the cups). That’s a damn good record for any striker not named Ronaldo or Messi. And it’s three straight years scoring 20+ league goals. He’s quality.
5 foot 9 striker…not sure about this guy for the PL…hope I’m wrong if we get him. Who do people compare him to? A young Defoe?
Please remind me, how tall is Alexis?
Sergio Aguero doesn’t do too bad in the Premier League, and he’s only
5 foot 8 inches.
Yeah Aguero is actually a bit of beast though, and Alexis is made out of titanium.
Lacazette is really slight. Hope he can cope with the physicality of the prem.
If, like gunnerblog, you’re skeptical of him, you compare him to Defoe (who is, let’s not forget, a very good natural goalscorer). If, like me, you think he’ll be bloody brilliant for us (injuries and selling-all-our-good-creative-players permitting), then you compare him to Aguero:
can lead the line on his own despite small stature; quick; offers skillful combination play with teammates; low centre of gravity; surprisingly hard to knock off the ball; great at twisting and turning in tight spaces; lethal finisher.
I would honestly prefer Laca over Mpappe because I think he’d be great at arsenal, he doesn’t cost 100 mil, and we could definitely get him. He’s a prolific goal scorer with great technique and pace entering his prime, plus he wouldn’t view Arsenal as an intermediate club. Then we have three great strikers and more money to invest in the rest of the squad. If this poop is solid I would be very pleased
Laca New Signing
IF we had a choice between lacazette and mbappe, and we ended up getting lacazette, i hope we put another t0m on a top top quality CM who can control the midfield (creative + long/ short key pass combination). Otherwise we are gonna end up having the same problem if xhaka gets injured. Who’s gonna pass the ball and control the midfield?
the shalcke dude goretzka is linked with us he was good agains chile
Goretzka is absolute quality, versatile enough to play alongside a number of our midfielders, and he’s got one year left on his current contract. Time for a £20-25m bid, I think. But I can’t see Wenger doing it. He’s too invested in Ramsey. If someone comes in in central midfield, it’ll be a youngster, like the giant Norwegian lad at Genk: could be brilliant, but probably won’t start much for a season or two.
We really need someone of Cazorla’s quality. He is up there with Alexis and Koscielny in importance and doesn’t have a replacement now. Lacazette and a good CM sounds a good deal for summer.
Agreed, I just fear Wenger won’t do it.
I think this is a good solid signing. It’s not top class but he’s a consistent goalscorer. He’s what we need rather than what we want. Mbappe of course is the dream, but I don’t think he’s coming so we need to move on and not end up scraping the barrel in August.
There is James Rodriguez and there is Aubameyang but we have kept all our eggs in one basket in trying to sign Mbappe. Matter of fact, I will prefer any one of them to Lacazette.
Aubameyang is almost 29 and probably doesn’t fancy us. James is not a centre forward nor a prolific goalscorer.
It has just struck me that we *could’ve* got arguably the best striker on the planet in Suarez for just 40M€ only 3 years ago. Crazy what the transfer market has become in such a short period of time.
Two questions:
1) If we really wanted Lacazette, why was he so nailed on to join Atletico?
2) When is the last time we bought a player from Lyon? This would be a welcome rapprochement.
Probably because he preferred Athletico (brilliant manager, brilliant recent record in Spain and Europe, brilliant reputation for buying & developing top striker talent) to us. Also because Mbappe was our dream first choice.
Doesn’t mean we don’t really fancy him. Making a big bid for him last summer, and going back in for him again over trying for others like Morata and Auba, suggests Wenger clearly fancies him.
Keep giroud. Buy lacazette. Buy mbappe. Sell wilshere, debuchy, cambell, ryo, etc
Ryo has been sold a while ago.
I’m just here to sit back, relax and watch a the fans who’ve been shooting him down and saying he’s not good enough (while the most haven’t even watched him, but just go on premise of “well if we wanted him, we would’ve before”) all of a sudden backpedal and con’vince themselves that this isn’t what they wanted all along.
Personally I’ve barely seen him play outside of that one emirates game (where Sanogo looked world class) , so I’ve always held my tongue on this.
Sanogo did look superb in that game though. Maybe we should sign him. In all seriousness I haven’t seen enough of Lacazette to know either way. The same with Mbappe. But i would take Mbappe for 100 mill if we were to sell him in 4 years for 140 mill. You never know, in those 4 years he might fall in love with us like so many of his countrymen.
Out of curiosity, how would we rate Lacazette in comparison with Aubameyang and Mbappe, or any of our current strikers?
Not sure this is an upgrade if it unsettles Giroud. We also have Welbeck. Perhaps this suggests Sanchez might be gone, which would be completely ludicrous. Such a fantastic player.
Meh
I’ve not seen loads of him. Strikes me as decent enough. But Giroud is decent enough.
If we’ve got bucks to spend then go sign Augemenyang. Better and proven at a better level than Lacazette, and would prob only cost about 15mil more.
I want players that will take us to the level, not a ‘convenient’ purchase that may or may not turn out well.
UTA
You admit not having seen much of him, and then pretty much bin him as mediocre. Logic?
If we’re getting Lacazette we won’t be getting Mbappe. Just can’t see Wenger splashing that much. Also think Alexis will be sold – there’s no way Wenger will let him go for free next year probably to a prem rival anyway when he can get money for him now. Giroud Wilshire Gibbs Perez will go. So hoping the Ox stays.
Rather exciting, I must concede.
What scares me is that Jackson Martinez had similar crazy stats at Porto and everyone was really confused. As if to say,” Doesn’t look great but can’t deny the results.” Might be some similarities here. He’s not explosive, is one-footed, and has everyone half convinced. If he comes though….WELCOME!!
One-footed?? Almost everyone, bar the few Santis of the world, is at least somewhat “one-footed”. But he’s scored some absolutely brilliant goals with his left, if you watch the goals compilations. And what does “explosive” mean, anyway? He’s hardly a slouch in the pace department, though obviously not a ridiculous speedster like Mbappe or Henry in his prime. Is Harry Kane “explosive”? Is Gonzalo Higuain? Sergio Aguero? Was RvP? This dude is quick enough.
I dont see lacazette as any better than our current strikers. Really poor signing if you ask me.
I like news.
No poop needed, it’s too underwhelming.
Does anyone know Dechamp’s reasoning for Giroud keeping Lacazette out of the French side? Surely that’s enough reason for concern re: this transfer?
FFS, go read my earlier comment. By itself, that’s a terrible reason for concern.
Don’t swap ollie! He’s so close to his ton!
I don’t think Aubameyang wants to come to Arsenal and he probably made that clear to Wenger in previous seasons.
As for Lacazette I’m hoping he isn’t the marquee signing, I’ve still not given up on Mbappe aswell but that may be a bit wishful
Thanks for pooping? I’m so touched. That is indeed the kindest thing I’ve ever heard for taking a poop.
This is to clear the way for an Alexis sale, right?
I think we’re trying to sign him and mbappe. Lacazette is being bought with the money we’re getting from city for Alexis. Arsene will most likely play him on the wing his first year in the prem and rotate mbappe with giroud. It’s the only thing I can see making any sense here.
I hope this doesn’t become the higuain stort all over again….
I would rather him than Mbappe. Better to have a player sign for his peak years and fully commit to the club Ian Wright style, than end up with a wantaway prodigy in the vein of Anekla.
Sign him, it’s good to see new striker next season, but still Sanchez saga is worrying AF
I wonder if Alexis goes will we see Lacazette and Mahrez starting next season?
I think lacazette is the striker that Wenger should go in for. Add Lemar on the wing from Monaco and leipzig’s do it all central midfielder Keita. That is a tidy bit of business. I cant see spending 140 million for mbappe. Their are too many other holes to fill. I would still do everything I can to sign Sanchez but things don’t look promising on that front.