According to the BBC’s David Ornstein, Arsenal are close to completing a deal for Alexandre Lacazette.
The 26 year old striker has been strongly linked with the Gunners over the last few weeks, and despite conflicting comments from Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, it seems Lyon are ready to sell.
It’s thought a deal could be completed over the weekend, with the fee expected to be in excess of the £42.5m we spent on Mesut Ozil in 2013.
The arrival of Lacazette could spark a significant departure from the forward line with Olivier Giroud the most likely candidate. He has already gone on record about his desire to have more playing time, especially in a season before the World Cup, and rumours have linked him to West Ham, Marseille and even Lyon in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Alexis Sanchez says he’s clear in his mind about what he wants to do this summer, but is not ready yet to make his decision public.
“Yes it’s clear,” he said, but I can’t tell you.”
Chile face Germany in the final of the Confederations Cup on Sunday, after which Sanchez will go on some kind of holiday, before returning to Arsenal later in July to begin his pre-season.
Hope he stays but I reckon yes off
I think his mind was made up after that 10-2 aggregate thrashing at the hands of Munich. His body language during and after that defeat was telling.
Wrong thread
Actually, it’s a direct response to this very post, the latter half of which discusses the Alexis situation.
there’s no way we can afford to lose Alexis like this! it’s not the quality but the drive that he brings ….pressing, harassing the opposite defence the drive…u can’t replace that..Mahrez, Lacazzette or Lemar are all skillful but I haven’t seen that hunger in them…and that’s what we need to fill in if Alexis leaves. if Wenger was like Alex Ferguson then we wouldn’t have to worru about it…nut he’s more hands off and got taken advantage of by his players that sometimes can’t b arsed to put in the effort
If our players had shown the same determination like the FA cup final in every match then I would really have no problem letting go of Alexis, the only player with the same attitude, every game. Always feels like that they just take the football match as just a game…not something like a challenge. Only fans should take it as a game…not the players…
I’ll take it. At least the fee’s I end up paying in football manager are now becomming reality.
Welcome to the family Lacazette, may you score many goals and help us win many titles!
Getting Lacazette in first before Sanchez is cashed in to Citeh.
We don’t him to leave but let’s be realistic given that he said his mind is made up about where he will playing next season. Then when asked if he will stay at Arsenal he said he doesn’t know. Just checked the bookies website – he is odds on to go to Citeh.
Higuain – odds on to join us
Higuain – betting suspended
Higuain – joins Juve
Means nothing
Means nothing?
9 times out of 10, when bookies go odds on then the transfer happens. Not guaranteed (e.g. Higuain) but highly likely.
If it means nothing, then why not put a large sum on your cash on Alexis staying. The bookies will give you 3 times your money back if he stays.
What rubbish. Bookies 9/10 get it right, you must be very cashed up then if you think theyve got a 90% strike rate.
Sanchez: “Hey guys”
Hey buddy
It would be kind of funny – in a we’ve been mega trolled way – if he did say “you guys” in a letter…
XhakaLacaDingDong
are we in the market for an asian to fill the illustrious socks of messrs Park & Miyaichi?
to all those saying that giroud starts for france in front of laca,it also seems that he starts ahead of martial and mbappe and even he used to start ahead of benzema when he was available for france…So judging lacazette from that is pure insanity…france coach like 2 striker upfront with physicality…Sometimes coaches prefer certain kind of players only like alonso and divoses for chelsea from conte…
No disrespect to oli…he should stay period
Just like how wenger has his favourites like wilshere , walcot coquelin tranche coach has his own favourites too. Doesn’t mean they are better players
Happy about Lacazette but I think Sanchez is gone. Especially since we’re trying to get Lemar. That’s a clear signal Sanchez is leaving. At least the club is preparing for the departure.
Lemar + Lacazette < Sanchez in my view. Reminds me of RVP out &;Giroud & Podolski in
And I think we fans need to accept sanchez genuinely looks a nice guy. Doesn’t deserve boos (or cheers) IMO. Or am I being too nice?
Depends if he leaves
I don’t understand booing players that move on. As supporters of the club we certainly have the right to be upset in losing our best player, but the anger should be directed at the club’s failure to keep the player happy. Why blame the player when it’s clearly an ownership/management problem?
Underwhelmed
Most probably a Sanchez replacement. That won’t be enough to maintain our current level. Will need another player like Lemar to at least ensure we are as good as last season. I know three signings were stated to happen, but assuming Alexis leaves, we’ll need at least two more after Lacazette and Kolasnasic.
Welcome Alexander, goodbye Alexis
Welcome Alexander, ta ta Oli hopefully!
What? You would rather lose Alexis than Giroud? Muppets!
You make it seem like we’re actually in an either/or situation there, which we just aren’t.
Just going by the article itself, 2 comments and thumbs.
Why lose either
False dichotomy mate.
Alexis Lacazette – Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?
no
Who is Alexis Lacazette?
His wife?
Are you saying it’s like rain on your wedding day? Or the good advice you just didn’t take?
If so, then I agree Lacazette coming but Sanchez leaving would be very much like those.
The irony is that the comment claims irony based on a mistaken understanding of Lacazette’s first name. Alanis Morazette wouldn’t understand.
99 pace, looking forward to playing as The Arsenal in fifa this season!
Wanted him 2 seasons ago, not excited now. Not worth 50m. Guess the Mbappe link got me carried away.
He’s going to make you eat your words.
If you are geting carried away by Mbappe saga? Why 100+m is worth a deal for that kid?
The lad from Schalke and Lacazette seem like decent signings, but these our players who play in the europa league and would be pushing themselves on with us, what we need our players who start for champions league level players, or at the very least players with situations like Ozil and Sanchez, I personally would push for Douglas Costa. Ultimately the ones who are payed millions to scout talent should know better than us but in terms or the atmosphere of the club, what I’ve seen from most fans is that this would just be a ‘whelming’ signing, with such… Read more »
Good news
If Alexis is indeed going the question is really what are we going to do about it.
Lacazette would be a good start
Kolasinac a good addition too
I’d say a quality left winger will be added & that’s it. Probably Lemar. I’d prefer Carrasco myself.
I think Lemar is a gem of a player, but he’s a long shot. Monaco don’t want to sell, and are under no real pressure to do so. If we put in a huge bid (50-60m?) and the player throws a fit, maybe. But we’re unlikely to do that. I think Mahrez is more likely, and though I rate him as a player, not sure how well he’d fit into our team, with our style and current formation: if Alexis stays (we should make him, but we probably won’t) then there’s no room for Mahrez in the 3-4-3; if he… Read more »
If Alexis stays we are going to need more than 3 attacking players. I would still take Mahrez happily.
If he goes a front three of Lacazette, Ozil and Mahrez could be quite tasty. It could be very tasty. Depends how well they all play.
Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’d happily take Mahrez if Sanchez and Ozil stay–I don’t think he’s a one-season wonder–but I don’t think he’d be content as a backup for long, and I don’t see how we can accommodate all three in this formation. Plus, whereas Mahrez could thrive on the right wing of a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, in the 3-4-3 the wide forwards are more like inside forwards (almost dual number 10’s), and I’m not convinced Mahrez would do as well there as Sanchez and Ozil, or even as Iwobi or Lemar (for the record: not saying Iwobi’s better… Read more »
Always room for Mahrez if Theo leaves. Whether we sign Lemar or not. Better we sign him than Spurs.
I think Monaco will hang onto him. Don’t think he’s going to Spurs in this transfer window, at least not over us.
I completely agree that Mahrez would be a brilliant upgrade on Theo, but I don’t think he’d be content to sit on the bench the way Theo will. Theo may talk a good game about not being content on the bench, but when it comes down to moving to a mid-table PL club to get more starts, I bet he’ll choose to stay where he’s comfortable and on a very fat salary. I can’t see Wenger getting rid of Theo even though he should, either because he’s too fond of him, or because it’ll be too difficult to convince Theo… Read more »
We are going to have a lot of games, injuries etc. Players get fatigued.
Also if we play any games with a back 4 we can have them all on the pitch at the same time.
Mahrez seems more likely. If we can get him back to his best we probably couldn’t do much better. Pretty big if though.
Yeah, I worry that Mahrez’s best is behind him, but I have to believe he would flourish under Wenger. I have to.
If you watch his vids from a couple of seasons ago he was stupidly good.
Getting Lacazette but losing Sanchez is a bit like losing RVP and getting Podolski.
I loved Podolski but deep down no matter how hard I tried to mask it I knew he was a downgrade.
I don’t think Lacazzette is a replacement for Alexis. One is more of a fox in the box while the other is a roaming fox. I think the next signing will make things clearer if the news about Alexis is not public by then.
Lacazette looks a lot better than Poldi.
Alsl I’m hoping that we will be buying more than just Lacazette. Lacazette and Mahrez seems most likely, and if both of them but the ground running and Ozil stays that might just cover it.
Depends how things pan out I suppose.
We need another CM too. Santi is a bit buggered.
Mahrez plays on the right so we’d have to switch Ozil left. But if Lemar rumours are to be believed we’re looking for a left sided player. Wouldn’t mind being rid of Theo & bringing in Mahrez though. Can’t see any central midfielder added unless players are moved on & then there’s right back unless we persist with the Ox & Maitland-Niles as alternates to Bellerin
Ozil has played left wing for us and the national team. So has Iwobi.
Ozil is a left sided player I think. He has played there for us and Germany.
Yeah, as Anonymarse says, Ozil can play comfortably on the left (where Iwobi can also cover), and actually, I used to think Mahrez was the sort of player who could only play cutting in from the right, but if you watch old youtube videos of him for Algeria, he’s looked impressive on the left as well. In any event, the wide forwards in the 3-4-3 have lots of freedom to roam.
If we stick with the wing backs, then Ox and AMN are ample cover for Bellerin (I’d begin the season with Ox ahead of Hector, but that’s just me). If we go back to a back four, then yes, in an ideal world we’d have better cover for Bellerin, but Gabriel and Chambers (and maybe Mustafi?) can all cover there if we’re desperate, plus AMN if we need a more attacking option. I don’t think it’s a huge priority provided Hector doesn’t get a serious injury (knock on wood). Also, this is all assuming Debuchy and Jenkinson both go, which… Read more »
Lacazette is going to be lightyears ahead of Podolski. Of course he’s not as good/complete as Alexis (few are) but if we’re really dumb enough to get rid of Alexis and only replace him with Lacazette, then we deserve all the inevitable failure that comes our way. If we must let him leave (and we don’t have to), then at least we should be replacing him with Lacazette and one other skillful attacker, and I think for once Wenger will make this happen. Whether it will be enough to at least make top 4, especially with questions remaining over deep… Read more »
He wouldn’t say “…but I can’t tell you” if he was willing to stay. Take Hector for an example. He said everything we needed to know with that Farca toilet paper Marca spreading rumours with his “Don’t believe everything you read”. I love that guy…
So while I’m glad we are signing him, waiting a year cost us in the region of 15million extra on figures reported last year. Might be worth discussion on the arsecast extra.
Hope he does really well for us.
I’ve got nothing positive to say about this…
So take the thumbs down option to release your stress.
Lacazzette is a very good addition, especially if Ozil stays. He has pace, trickery and a short back lift (something Arsene really likes). Ozil and Xhaka will have another moving target. Kolasnead? and Lacazzette; not a bad start if you ask me.
Meh.
If giroud is to go then its back to france. I don’t get selling a player to a competitor where he will be desperate to play well against us
How many poos, drew?
We readers have been constipated for a long time now. Fix the poometer Arseblog! I have a turtle head poking out!
if you have a turtlehead poking out you’re not constipated. just get a hook and pull it out.
If we sign Lacazette and Kolasinac only, while losing Sanchez and Giroud, that would be 1 step forward, 3 steps backward. If we sign a Sanchez replacement he won’t be as good so it’s still not good enough. If we also sign a really good midfielder then it becomes interesting. Unfortunately I don’t see us signing 4 players. If only we can keep Sanchez and sign 1 good midfielder that would be great.
Wenger will stick him on the wing, as he’s done with nearly every centre forward he’s ever bought!!!
This is the Wenger way….the way of premiership no-hopers.
Good news on Lacazette, but please keep Oli! We need a quality squad for the 50-60 games we are likely to play coming season. Oli will get more than enough game time, with all those games and injuries and the like.
Happy if we sign him, but as replacement for Perez not Oli and certainly not Sanchez.
And I don’t really believe that buying two ‘very good players’ such as Laca and Mahrez, compensates for the loss of one world class player.
Arsenal linked to another player.
The sun keeps shining and the earth keeps spinning.
And no one takes anything seriously regarding new players.
Tell me you don’t believe this?
If we sell Giroud after this then everything Ivan said in the Q & A is bs. ” Add top quality ” not replace it my friend.
Sanchez saying he is clear in his mind is the most clear sign that he plans to leave.. No mbappe’s or lacazette’s can make him stay. Only card the club has is to force him play his last year of his contract. Its not a bad option. He is atleast a 35M player worth, use him for a year and its probably easy to find a new talent after world cup.
keep sanchez, win the league, re sign sanchez after next season.
IF alexis does indeed leave, hanfsome G doesnt need to leave if we get Lacazette. We can always play 2 up front?
Ozil in the hole behind laca and oli? With bell and kolasenic bombing the flanks so we have danger from wide in high cross low cross, and also central threat in #xhakaboompass or mesut creativity?
while its crazy to speculate every time a player picks his nose…like a good hypocrite I’ll join in….if he was staying why would he not just say that knowing it would make us happy…there’s no downside surely? So his decision to keep the suspense going suggests to me he is going. If we replace with Mbappe (not chance) I’ll be ok with it…otherwise its pitchforks and burning effigies of the management!
We have these discussions about players every summer yet fast forward 8 months and no doubt we will have ballsed up another season just like we did in 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 ……..
We’re paying about half the price for a p[layer who has demonstrated scoring consistency over four years rather than an 18yr old for a year (and at that less than Lacazette’s tally) No brainer. that said, I don’t think we should be selling giroud just yet. I would try and keep him for another season. There is a reason why he starts ahead of Lacazette for France and it is not detrimental to Les Bleus mobility. The bigger issue is if we sell Giroud, we are reliant on Welbeck to be clinical up top and he has yet to prove… Read more »
If we can’t get mbappe or aubamenyang, I would actually rather arsene surprise us with lukaku,
We may actually challenge for the league title next season