Alexander Lacazette has publicly labelled his Arsenal team-mate Thomas Partey a ‘killer’ after being crunched by the midfielder in training.
The striker has been in flying form for the Gunners over the past few months and, despite his lack of goals, is a crucial part of Mikel Arteta’s system.
Lacazette has scored two and assisted seven for Arsenal so far this season, but his ability to linkup play and combine with his wingers cannot be understated and has been key in the North London outfit’s rise into the Champions League placings.
However, Arsenal fans will be feeling nervous after Lacazette shared a photo on his Instagram story of his ankle, which looked like it had been on the receiving end of a poor tackle.
The former Lyon striker captioned the image: “Player of the Month, Killer of the Day,” before tagging Partey - which many would therefore assume it was the Ghana international who did the damage.
In a second photo shared on to his Instagram, followed by over three million fans, Lacazette shared a picture of him sat on the floor clutching his foot, clearly in agony from the tackle.
It is unclear whether Lacazette has a few cuts to show for the tackle or has sustained a more serious injury as a result of the former Atletico Madrid midfielder.
Arsenal take on Leicester City on Sunday and if Lacazette is unavailable, Arteta may have to turn to young striker Eddie Nketiah to lead the line for his side at the Emirates Stadium.
But replacing Lacazette will certainly be on the ‘to do list’ for Arsenal considering that the 30-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and it is starting to look unlikely that the France international will renew his stay with the club.
But his good form is leading some to believe it is important for Lacazette to be offered a new deal and offer experience in the young Arsenal squad.
But club legend Paul Merson does not think that should be the case, and nor should the players recent good form should not convince his former club to offer the striker a new contract.
"If Alexandre Lacazette goes and gets 10 goals before the end of the season, they can't get lazy and just give him a new deal worth £250,000-a-week, thinking it might be his season next season," Merson told Sky Sports last month.
"For me, Lacazette has had his time at Arsenal. Whatever he does between now and the end of the season, he's had his chance."
However, fellow North London icon Ian Wright holds the opposite opinion and thinks it is ‘vital’ that Lacazette stays beyond the summer.
Speaking on the Wrighty’s House podcast, the former forward said: “It will be interesting to see how they do that. His position is vitally important to everything we do, just look at the two assists he got.
“Unless we get that person, you think to yourself, maybe we could give Laca another year or two. I think Laca has got to stay around, man. You can see with his little back flick (for Saka’s goal vs Watford ), his little assist. Man is feeling the vibe!”
