Alexandre Lacazette’s future at Arsenal is one that remains rather uncertain at the moment. The Frenchman has only 12 months remaining on his contract at the Emirates. As it stands, there are no indications that the club wants to offer the player a renewal or that the player himself wants to stay put at the club.
However it may be, the Gunners must now be forced to make a decision before the season ends, except they are more than okay with losing the 30-year-old for free.
News has emerged that the club’s failure to move on Lacazette this summer caused a major dent in their summer plans, including the pursuit of Tammy Abraham.
Lacazette was the hindrance in Abraham’s pursuit
While speaking in a recent episode on his Here We Go podcast, journalist Fabrizio Romano did categorically confirm that Arsenal were close to signing Tammy Abraham from Chelsea in the summer.
At the time, we did report on those developments as well, with the Gunners reportedly closing in on a loan move at one point and Abraham also stalling on a decision at another point.
In the end, nothing came out of that interest, with the player eventually joining Jose Mourinho at Roma, where he has excelled so far.
It is now being reported that Arsenal were trying to sell Lacazette to free up a striker space for Tammy Abraham but finding a suitor to employ his services proved to be difficult.
Eddie Nketiah was also an option to be sold, but it would have made more sense to make Lacazette the priority departure since he is the more senior player in the ranks between the two.
It is no secret that Arsenal remain in the hunt for a striker, perhaps a much younger one at that. Based on that, though, it could mean a swift decision on one of their start forwards has to be taken soon.
Lacazette could leave next summer
Aside from Lacazette, Arsenal still have another star forward in captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and it would make sense that they stick with the Gabonese forward, who still has two years left on his current contract.
At the moment, Lacazette has barely featured for the Gunners this term, having made only a 30-minute cameo in their 5-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta is perhaps already looking forward to the future, with the emergence of youngster Folarin Balogun as well.
As it stands, all things point to the fact that Lacazette will most likely depart the club next summer. With his current wages at £180,000-a-week, he might also have to significantly lower his wages to secure a move.
By :
Steven D. Thompson
