Fabrizio Romano has revealed what Arsenal are planning to do about Alexandre Lacazette amid rumours about his future beyond the end of this season.
The Frenchman has had an excellent campaign for Arsenal. He is our top scorer this season, but nobody knows if that will be enough to convince Edu, Mikel Arteta and the Gunners board to extend his current £182,000-a-week contract. (Spotrac)
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Lacazette was left on the bench last night even though Arsenal were in desperate need of a goal. That, in a way, hinted that Arteta doesn’t really have him in his long-term plans, but if Romano is to be believed, the Frenchman could yet get a new contract.
Fabrizio Romano: Alexandre Lacazette could sign a new Arsenal contract
He said on the latest episode of the Here We Go Podcast: “It (a new contract for Lacazette) is a possibility.
“Arsenal have not discussed yet directly with the player. They are waiting for some weeks, then they will talk directly with Lacazette, also about the possibility of extending his contract for one more season.”
Should Arsenal keep Lacazette?
It’s hard to argue against Lacazette staying considering how good he has been this season. The former Lyon man has scored 17 goals in all competitions for us this term, and he has earned the right to stay.
However, the biggest issue is his age. Laca will turn 30 in eight days and we all know what happens to a player’s transfer value once he’s on the wrong side of 30.
If Arsenal hand Lacazette a one-year extension, his transfer value next summer will probably be half of what it is today. That doesn’t really make a lot of sense financially, but keeping hold of the Frenchman is still the right move.
Arsenal will not be in the Europa League next season and that hurts our chances of signing world-class players. If Lacazette stays and fires us into the top-four next term, we will be in a much better position to replace him.
Giving him a one-year extension protects his value to a certain extent as well. We will not be at the risk of losing him for free next year, and if he can even come close to scoring as many goals as he has scored this term, we should end next season in a very respectable position.
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