Albin Mouton
9th March 2017. Lyon is facing AS Roma at home in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie. After a poor first half, Lyon get back in the game thanks to (now Bayern Munich signing) Corentin Tolisso and manage to lead by 3 goals to 2 with a beautiful left-footed curved shot by Nabil Fekir. So far, Alexandre Lacazette has had a solid game, delivering an assist after a series of one-two’s for his friend Tolisso. But in the 91st minute, ‘General Lacazette’, as Lyon fans like to call him, awakes. Receiving a pass from Mathieu Valbuena just outside the penalty box, Lyon’s striker takes a touch to get the ball slightly in the air and fires it into the top left-corner (2.18 on this clip). A tremendous screamer followed by a celebration even more powerful. Instead of running around, Lacazette stands still, waiting for his partners to congratulate him and stares the whole time at the crowd, posing. One that reminds of Eric Cantona’s against Sunderland.
This goal represents perfectly who Alexandre Lacazette is and who he could be for Arsenal if they were to sign him. Power, technique, strength, vision, instinct and character. Criticized many times about his ability to score important goals, he has proven this season that he is the boss at Lyon. In the past three years, he scored more than 20 league goals in each campaign, getting the most goals in Ligue 1 during the 2014/15 season, ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. This season, he managed to secure 28 league goals for his team making him one of the top strikers in the world.
With Atletico Madrid’s interest an irrelevance due to the transfer ban from the UEFA commission, Lyon’s striker is ready for a move to a big European club. As Arsenal has already shown a willingness to buy him last season, the Gunners remain in good position to acquire his services. Although the bill would be quite big, other European giants are likely to make offers in the next few weeks. But, Alexandre Lacazette is worth the money.
For example, his shot-conversion rate (33.3%) was the best of any striker with more than 20 goals in Europe, better than Harry Kane (26.4%), Luis Suarez (24.2%), Lionel Messi (20.7%) or Cristiano Ronaldo (15.4%). Since his debut for Lyon in 2010, he scored 127 in 274 appearances and became the first player in Lyon’s history to score 25 goals during the 2014/2015 season. Something he has now done twice with his 28 goals during the last campaign. This record was one that neither Karim Benzema nor Sonny Anderson could achieve. On his potential last game for Lyon, he scored twice against Nice to reach 100 league goals for the club he has always played for.
But Lacazette’s not only a great striker. He’s a hard-worker that never quits, even if he fails, he just keeps trying over and over again to help his team win. He’s also a team player, very altruistic. His technique and vision combined allow him to deliver great through balls as well as small space plays. His only physical weakness lays in his aerial duels. His heading skills are definitely not very good but he compensates by anticipating a defender’s movements on the field. He doesn’t win a lot in the air but he’s able to give a hard time to defenders with his body. He often uses his marking defender’s movement to make space for himself or his partners. Once he gets the ball, it’s very difficult to take it away from him.
As opposed to someone like Alexis Sanchez, who’s not a natural striker, Lacazette has learned to stay up front almost all the time allowing him to be available for his partners. Lyon’s striker often plays with one-touch deviations. With that, he accelerates the pace of the game and he’s always moving around to make runs into the space. His ability to make the right runs in the right space is phenomenal. Sometimes, he can be too impatient when making his runs but at 26, that is something he has improved a lot throughout his Ligue 1 seasons. Inside the penalty area, he’s the kind of player that will always get the ball. It’s like the ball is attracted to his feet. Alexandre Lacazette is also someone with special character. Criticized by its own fans for saying he wanted to play for a top European club next season, he replied on the pitch by scoring more and more goals.
Lacazette’s playing style would suit to Arsenal because he can adorn a team by the goals he secures. It’s only an assumption but, play him alongside Giroud, Sanchez and Özil and he will perfectly fit in with the squad. Just take a look at his 37 goals in 45 games in all competitions last season. He’s also a very good penalty taker and has scored many of his goals from the spot. This particular skill would be a good addition to the squad because Arsenal doesn’t have a designated taker. Alexis’ and Özil’s records are poor, Giroud can take them but you never know what to expect and Santi Cazorla is always injured. So, this aspect of his game could benefit the Gunners.
One thing remains undone though: the French national first team. He first appeared in June 2013 and only scored one goal in 10 appearances. The French manager, Didier Deschamps, does not regularly include Alexandre Lacazette in his squad, even though he has more club goals than any other French striker. Didier Deschamps did recently call him up for the games against Paraguay, Sweden and England but he only played 20 minutes against Paraguay.
The Frenchman also knows what it’s like to play in intense derbies. The one between Lyon and Saint-Etienne is the biggest rivalry in France and he has been raised in this particular spirit inside Lyon’s academy. Alexandre Lacazette has been truly loyal to his club, he knows what it means to represent something.
Arsenal seems interested in him and in good position to sign him if Arsene Wenger makes a suitable offer. But yet, nothing is confirmed and Arsenal might lose him if the offer takes too long to process. Other big clubs will definitely be interested in one of the best strikers in the world this summer.
