Arsenal have to make a crucial decision with Alexandre Lacazette now the January transfer window has closed.
According to French outlet L’equipe, Ligue 1 side Lyon tried to sign Lacazette in the January transfer window but failed in their attempts, so will come back in for him when he is a free agent in the summer.
The Gunners are extremely short in the striker position at the moment, and that is set to get worse ahead of next season as more departures are expected.
The hierarchy at the Emirates need to make a definitive decision on whether Lacazette extends his contract or not to avoid repeating the same mistakes they did with the striker situation in the January transfer window.
Due to Arsenal’s inability to sign Dusan Vlahovic, it meant that the club lacked alternatives and were forced to keep Eddie Nketiah at the club despite heavy interest from Crystal Palace.
Both Nketiah and Lacazette’s contracts are set to expire at the end of the season, which will leave Arsenal without a recognised striker due to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s move to Barcelona.
While it seems Nketiah is likely to leave the club in the summer, there is still a question mark hanging over the future of Lacazette.
According to L’Equipe the Gunners are willing to offer the French contract extension of up to two years, but it is unsure whether the two parties will come to an agreement.
If Arsenal lose out on Lacazette to Lyon, which is the club the Gunners had signed from in a £50m in 2017, then Mikel Arteta will need two new strikers in the summer.
And to speed up the process, it is imperative the club are clear on the Arsenal striker’s situation, which will avoid the club not having a backup plan to their main target just like they did in January.
After the situation concerning had Aubameyang escalated, Edu was pushing hard to sign Dusan Vlahovic, football.london understood, but the club could not persuade the Serbian striker to join despite him being the number one target.
The Gunners had failed after that to go in for another striker, and it seemed as though there were no sufficient plans. This could have been due to how recent the Aubameyang situation had taken place, and the chase for Vlahovic was reactive rather than what Edu had planned before the breakdown in relations with Aubameyang.
The striker position is arguably the most crucial on the pitch, and it is extremely important that Arsenal’s summer recruitment is pinpoint, considering two strikers will be required if Lacazette and Nketiah both depart.
Handling the Lacazette situation as early as possible will help Edu focus for the summer, and ensure Arsenal have multiple targets to sign, which they seemingly did not in the January transfer window.
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