Darren Bent has urged Arsenal to renew Alexandre Lacazette’s contract and avoid making a huge mistake with their striker situation.
Arsenal’s lack of signings in January, coupled with the contract situations of key players, means that Mikel Arteta and the club face a tricky summer window. Their failure to sign a forward last month ensured that the Gunners began the business end of the Premier League season with only Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah as their senior strikers.
Both strikers have four months left on their deals and are expected to depart on a free transfer in the summer. While there’s not much chatter on losing Nketiah on a Bosman move, there are concerns about the Frenchman, who was signed for big money back in 2017. Lacazette is attracting tremendous interest from top clubs, which should be alarming to Arsenal, considering he will move for nothing.
Even former side Lyon confirmed their interest in the striker, who has been given the captain’s armband since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stripped of it and subsequently moved out of the club. If Lacazette leaves, Arsenal will have no senior strikers in the squad, and they are expected to bring in at least two new forwards in the summer. Napoli forward Victor Osimhen is one of their prime targets.
There has also been talk about giving Lacazette a new deal, although the striker will look for a longer contract at this stage of his career, something he could get at other clubs such as Lyon.
Speaking on talkSPORT, former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent urged Arsenal to extend Lacazette’s stay at the club and asked them to avoid a mistake they have committed in the past. He suggested the Gunners cannot dip into the transfer market without an alternate plan to their primary objective, which is to sign at least two strikers.
Bent said, “I’d give him a new contract. Just as cover. Even if we get someone else in. Maybe not as your number nine because you need your number nine to score goals. Don’t let him go for nothing and have no plan B in place. Sign him up now, and then worry about getting someone else down the line. Arsenal can’t make that mistake.”
Lacazette has been a reliable source of goals for Arsenal since his arrival in 2017. He has registered 70 goals and 33 assists from 193 appearances so far for the Gunners. It will be interesting to see if the north Londoners decide to hand him a new deal or let him go for nothing and sign two new players to replace the Frenchman and Aubameyang.
