Arsenal are back in the race to sign Alexandre Lacazette and hope to have the striker on board by the end of the summer transfer window.
He has been in prolific form for his side in the 2016/17 season and Arsene Wenger has been tracking him since last summer. He scored 28 goals and managed three assists in 30 league appearances. The Telegraph reports that Lyon value the Frenchman at a fee in the range of £50m ($64m), which the Gunners are willing to match.
However, the biggest problem that the north London club have in this department is their inability to provide the Frenchman with Champions League football, something which he is keen on next season. The Gunners failed to qualify for Europe’s biggest club competition for the first time under Wenger and will instead ply their trade in the Europa League. The 26-year-old was also being targeted by Manchester United but the Red Devils have since moved on to other prospects.
Lacazette is a player similar to Alexis Sanchez and has been in brilliant form over the past three years, scoring 91 goals. He was previously close to completing a move to Atletico Madrid, but the La Liga club have a transfer ban imposed on them, which prevents Diego Simeone’s men signing any player till January 2018.
Meanwhile, the Gunners are still waiting for Mesut Ozil and Sanchez to agree to a new deal, with both players entering the final year of their contracts. The Chilean is being heavily scouted by Bayern Munich with the Gunners refusing to negotiate with Manchester City and Chelsea, who are also interested.
Gunners’ midfielder Granit Xhaka believes that Ozil will stay at the club next season, while he hopes that Sanchez will follow suit by signing a new deal. Meanwhile, there is still doubt over Olivier Giroud’s future at the club, with the Frenchman being seen as a makeweight to sign Kylian Mbappefrom Monaco. The 30-year-old wants more game time, with the World Cup scheduled for next year and has been linked with a move back to France.
