Arsenal’s strikeforce options continue to deteriorate looking from June onwards. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the club after four years to make the switch to Barcelona.
Meanwhile, Alexandre Lacazette is reportedly not going to be offered a new contract at the end of the season and a return to Lyon is on the cards, a club where he started his career.
The Athletic reported that Arsenal were not prepared to bid for Alexander Isak as they felt that the price for the player was too high. The Real Sociedad forward has been linked with the Gunners for some time now.
But, was the release clause for the Swedish international really too high? The Arsenal Way’s Tom Canton (TC) and Chris Davison (CD) discussed this stage of the Isak to Arsenal story on Thursday morning’s Arsenal Agenda show.
CD: “I think it’s a decision that a lot of thought would have gone into because you look at the current striker situation at the moment. It’s pretty desperate, isn't it? Aubameyang is gone, Balogun has gone out on loan.
“Nketiah and Lacazette are both out of contract in the summer and look set to leave as things stand. Arsenal genuinely felt that Isak wasn’t worth that £75 million. They thought that possibly in the summer cheaper or better solutions would be out there.
“Thinking about whose available come the summer, that makes sense. A lot of people including myself were in the bracket of thinking Isak cost a fair amount of money. And not being worth that type of fee at this moment in time, with where he’s at in his career. I would agree with that.
“He’s a player with a huge amount of talent and a lot of potential. But, looking at his stats this season, he’s still got a lot of room to develop and improve as a player. He’s still very young. I think £75 million would have been a big gamble.
“Yeah, he’s someone who would have found his feet in the next couple of seasons. But, the Premier League is a different kettle of fish - in terms of intensity and everything like that.
“There’s no guarantee that he would have come in and been a success right from the very off, especially considering he’s very young. A lot of Arsenal fans including myself look at the £72 million Pepe deal.
“He’s a bit more developed than Isak and had a better season than Isak. I think he got Player Of The Season at Lille. So, it goes to show that players that have had an amazing season don’t always get off to a good start in the Premier League.”
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