Arsenal will start their Premier League campaign on August 13th against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium, however Wenger has a lot of work to do in the coming two months to get his squad ready for a proper title challenge. The Gunners were left frustrated last season, When they finished below surprise champions Leicester City, after all the other big clubs failed miserably to find any consistencies. Wenger main priority will be getting a striker to provide competition for Giroud up front. Arsenal fans have been demanding Wenger to spend big on a world class striker, who can guarantee 20-25 goals per season, something which Arsenal have missed since the departure of Robin Van Persie.
Arsene Wenger is also clearly worried about the lack of world class striker; hence he immediately turned to Jamie Vardy as a solution. Vardy was an exact foil for Giroud, although the same age. The combined approaches the two would have brought could have given Arsenal an edge over everyone. But as we all know, the deal fell through. Now Arsenal is looking for another striker similar to Vardy who can make Arsenal’s attack more versatile. One more attacker who has now been linked with a move to the Emirates is Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette, with the French manager looking to get a deal completed with the coming days.
Wenger knows he must do his transfer dealing soon, after he got the unwanted tag of being the only manager in the top five leagues of Europe not to sign an outfield player last summer. Lacazette is the type of striker that Arsenal is looking for. Just like Vardy, he is very quick, but he is also compact in his strength. His speed is bursting and he is a fantastic target for Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka to aim their long balls for.
The attacker made a total of 43 appearances for the French outfit in all competitions in the previous campaign, scoring a total of 23 goals and making 3 assists in his name. The star has played full 90 minutes in every game since March, which goes to show his superb fitness levels. Lacazette is an excellent finisher and a renowned goal scorer, something which Wenger needs desperately right now, after Giroud’s goal drought last season eventually cost the Gunners the Title.
The drawback of signing Lacazette is that he has only ever played in France. During those three years in France, he has never been obnoxiously good. Which makes his signing a risk, since adapting to the Premier League can be tough for foreign players especially strikers. If he does sign for Arsenal, Wenger would want him firing as soon as possible, therefore he won’t get much adaptation time.
Lacazette may not be an upgrade on Giroud, however if Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema had not be involved in an off-the-field scandal arguably neither would got near the French national side. He is still relatively young and If guided properly he would thrive in a team like Arsenal’s.