Ever since Theirry Henry left Arsenal back in 2007 the Gunners have been crying out for a pacy, prolific forward who will guarantee goals. Arsene Wenger has tried to fill that Henry-shaped hole in their attack multiple times, but players like Oliver Giroud, Emanuel Adebayor and Danny Welbeck just haven’t made the grade.
Henry was Arsenal’s best forward that they’ve ever had, and with him in their side they went 49 games unbeaten, still a record today, they reached the final of the Champions League and were one of the best sides to grace English football. However, they haven’t won a Premier League trophy since that fabled unbeaten season in 2003/4, and have won just 3 major trophies in the last 13 years.
But just yesterday the BBC reported that they were close to signing Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette, a 26-year-old super-quick goalscorer who scored 37 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions and 28 goals in 28 starts in Ligue 1. This record is right up there with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, and he seems like the perfect fit for Arsenal; he’s French, quick, will provide vital support for Alexis Sanchez (providing he’s still there), and can play out wide or through the centre.
The article was written by reporter David Ornstein, who has previously reported big Arsenal transfers early on and has, therefore, become the subject of a lot of, let’s call it love, from the Gunners’ online community. here are some of my favourites:
I just feel sorry for the guy…
Anyway, Lacazette clearly has very strong connections to Henry, and if Arsenal can bring in a strong, box-to-box-style midfielder to really help tighten up their defence and really let Ozil run free just behind the striker then I would certainly expect them back in the top 4, and maybe even expect a title challenge from them.
Lacazette was apparently close to joining Athletico Madrid before their transfer ban, almost certainly as a replacement for seemingly Man-United-Bound Antoine Greizmann.
However, if the Frenchman does sign, does this rule out a move for Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe? To me, the Mbappe move never really looked likely, especially when he made his profile photo on social media a photo of him in front of an advertisement board saying “Priceless”. Lacazette will certainly make an impact at Arsenal, and I, personally, would love to see him in the Premier League.
What do you think of the move? Will it happen? Leave your opinion in the comment section below. If you enjoyed the post please do like and share, and if you have any comments, queries or questions then please also drop a comment. If you want to see more from me and the dugout and be alerted when I post new content then please subscribe, you can use either your WordPress account or your Email. There will be a new WWU out during the week, so stay tuned!
Billy
In the dugout 