After coming dangerously close to signing him last summer, Arsenal might have gotten yet another chance to seal the deal for Olympique Lyonnais striker Alexandre Lacazette. According to reports, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed his plans to make major sales this summer.
The 25-year-old has long been a priority on Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger’s shopping list but any kind of deal has failed to materialise so far. The France international has proved to be one of the best strikers in Europe of late and had almost signed a deal for the Gunners last summer. However, facing a failure to that end, Wenger went on to buy former Deportivo la Coruna forward Lucas Perez.
Lacazette still looks like someone player who could improve this Arsenal side. Aulas is ready to accept offers for the highly-rated striker and expects the club do be in the business of selling at the end of this season. The former French champions have a rich history of cashing in on their big names, and they would like to continue their policy. The Ligue 1 giants’ chief was quoted in the French press as saying he expected “very significant sales before June 30”.
He said, “We don’t have to do anything, but as we have a squad valued at more than €170m, there will come a time when we have to cash in on that capital,’ he explained. So, as I did with Karim Benzema and Samuel Umtiti, if a player wants to leave and the offer is acceptable, we won’t stand in the way.”
Lyon have come up with some of the finest talents of late which include the likes of Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, Lisandro Lopez, Michel Bastos, Sebastien Delgado, Miralem Pjanic, Hugo Lloris, Sylvian Wiltord and many more.
Although Arsenal currently have players like Alexis Sanchez, Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Perez, Theo Walcott and Chuba Akpom in the squad, changes are expected at the end of the season after the club looks to be on course to another trophy-less season. Especially Alexis Sanchez, whose future is in doubt after he stalled on signing a new contract, and Giroud no longer being the automatic first choice up front.
Lacazette has scored 21 times in 21 appearances for Lyon in Ligue 1, although he couldn’t shine similarly in the Champions League. A centre-forward by nature, he can also play on the flanks. His contract expires in 2019 and Lyon would like to squeeze in the maximum amount from the sale of their youth product.
