Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette has reportedly been offered to Serie A heavyweights AC Milan who are in the market for a new centre-forward.
According to a report from Italian outlet Calciomercato, AC Milan have been offered a shot at signing Arsenal and France striker Alexandre Lacazette who is in the final year of his contract with the Gunners.
Lacazette arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2017 from Ligue 1 giants Olympique Lyon. During his time at the Emirates, the 30-year-old has been a regular source of goals, even though he has had to go through a few dry patches every now and then. To date, the Frenchman has made 173 appearances for the north London outfit, scoring 67 goals and setting up 29 more.
Lacazette finished the last season as the top scorer for Arsenal and has made a decent start to the 2021/22 term as well. While he has been largely overlooked in the Premier League games, the 30-year-old has two goals in two in the Carabao Cup, along with an assist as well.
However, Lacazette’s contract with Arsenal runs out in the summer next year, and with Mikel Arteta working towards building a youth-centric squad it seems like a renewal might not be forthcoming for the French forward. While he had been linked with an exit in the summer, things could accelerate in the coming weeks with there being interest in him from several quarters including Barcelona.
However, as per the aforementioned report, it is AC Milan that have been offered a shot at completing a January deal for Lacazette. It is stated that the Rossoneri are not completely happy with their striking options in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud given as the former is 40 and has had injury issues while the latter turned 35 recently.
With manager Stefano Pioli hoping to challenge for the Scudetto he is intent on adding another consistent source of goals to his roster. Torino’s Andrea Belotti is a name being considered while Lacazette, too, had emerged as an option for Milan, along with rivals Juventus. And, it has now emerged that the Rossoneri have been offered to secure the 30-year-old’s signing.
However, a move could be difficult to pull off because of Lacazette’s wages, the report adds. The 30-year-old pockets somewhere around €9 million per season at Arsenal, which is well beyond Milan’s means. So, it will be interesting to see if they do decide to act on their interest in the Frenchman and sign him, either in January or in the summer.
