Why Lacazette doesn't deserve a new Arsenal contract
FT Desk
- 29 Mar 2022 20:28 BST
- 8 min read
Arsenal seem to ahve finally turned a corner under Mikel Arteta, as the North London side make a late push for a top four finish in the Premier League this season.
Such good form will undoubtedly surprise many fans of the club, who feared the worse when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was allowed to leave for free in January to join Barcelona.
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However, in the Gabon international's place Arsenal have been able to rely upon senior striker Alexandre Lacazette to lead the line and allow a young an inexperienced side to play off him.
As such, L'Equipe are reporting that Arsenal could yet offer the striker a new deal before the end of the season an when his current contract expires.
Yet, as appealing as that may be for some Arsenal fans, there are a few reasons why the Premier League giants should resist the urge to keep their French striker.
He’s not very good
Much of Arsenal’s demise in English football can be put down to sub-par first team players and Lacazette is, unfortunately, exactly the kind of player that has struggled to truly thrive in the Premier League.
Since joining the club in 2017 for £47.7 million, the French striker has never managed to score more than 15 league goals in a single season and to date he’s managed just 54 in 151 Premier League appearances for Arsenal.
Last season the 30-year-old striker bagged just 13 goals in 31 league games for Arteta’s side and this season he has just four goals in 23 appearances. That’s simply not good enough for a clear starter at the club, when he’s fit enough to play.
He’s holding up Arsenal’s progress
The natural consequence of Lacazette not being good enough for his starting role is that he blocks other strikers from taking on the role and trying to establish themselves as better goalscorers.
Arsenal have spent a fortune on new central defenders, midfielders and wingers in recent seasons, but they haven’t really bought any strikers since the French goal scorer arrived in 2017.
While part of that may have been down to the striker doing just enough to retain his spot in the team, another reason has clearly been down to the fact that the club have been reluctant to drop one of their most highly-paid players.
For a team that managed just five more league goals than Southampton last season, that’s a huge problem.
Not only is Lacazette not good enough, he’s also stopping Arsenal from fixing their striker problem. And that won’t be solved until they move the French striker on to another club.
