Arsenal FC have been told by Olympique Lyon that they need to cough up around €48 million to land the signature of French striker Alexandre Lacazette, according to reports from English media.
While Arsenal have already had a €35 million bid rejected for the 25-year-old striker, Lyon have supposedly informed the Gunners on Wednesday, that they will need to shell out €48 million if they want to sign Lacazette, if a report in English newspaper Daily Mirror is to be believed.
Incidentally, Lyon-based French newspaper Le Progrès ran a story on Tuesday, claiming that Arsenal have made a formal offer of €48 million for Lacazette. However, Lyon went on to refute these claims on the very same day.
“Olympique Lyonnais categorically denies having received an offer of €48 million from Arsenal for the transfer of Alexandre Lacazette as Le Progres claims in this morning’s edition,” Lyon announced in their official statement.
The Ligue 1 giants further went on to confirm that Arsenal had in fact, tabled a bid which was in the region of €35 million, which was promptly rejected.
“The reality is that Arsenal formulated an offer of €35 million which Olympique Lyonnais did not follow up on for one reason only: OL will keep Alexandre Lacazette who is irreplaceable and who is one of the main leaders of Bruno Genesio’s squad,” the statement further read.
Arsenal have been looking for a new striker this summer, after Danny Welbeck sustained a long term injury late last season, which rules the Englishman out till around November. With Olivier Giroud being the only out-and-out striker in their squad, the Gunners are in need of another forward as they prepare for the upcoming season.
Lacazette’s good form last season has drawn the attention of top clubs from across Europe, with Arsenal being in the lead to sign the Lyon man, according to various media reports. In fact, Lacazette (48) has outscored top European forwards like Mauro Icardi (38), Giroud (30), Alvaro Morata (15), and Theo Walcott (10) in the last two seasons, in their respective leagues.
The 25-year-old has informed Lyon of his intentions of leaving the Ligue 1 after he failed to make it to the French national squad for the recently concluded 2016 European Championships in France. This is an indication that Lacazette believes that he needs a move to a bigger club, in order to grow in stature as a striker, and make it to the French squad for the 2018 World Cup, in Russia.
