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As we speak, Atletico Madrid are scouring the market for a striker to bolster their lacklustre attack. This season, Diego Simeone’s men have only scored 22 goals in 20 Liga games, 16 fewer than city rivals Real Madrid and 28 fewer than Barcelona. Edinson Cavani and Alexandre Lacazette top Los Rojiblancos list with the Spanish team looking to a deal sooner rather than later.
Alexandre Lacazette’s departure is more probable now than it would have been a few months ago. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, things haven’t gone too well for him at the Emirates. The 28-year-old’s prime years have been a disappointment with many recognising now as the perfect time for him to move on. This season, the striker has only scored 5 league goals and is currently on an eight-game goal drought.
Here are 3 reasons why Alexandre Lacazette should move to Atletico Madrid.
#3 Arsenal need to sell in order to rebuild
Truth be told, Arsenal are in the midst of a transition phase. The Gunners are looking to sell a lot of ‘deadwood’ players while bringing in ones that are up to the desired standard. In order to fund such a rebuild, Stan Kroenke has made it clear that the club will have to spend from what it generates. As of today, neither of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang or Lacazette have signed a new contract, with their current deals expiring next summer.
The message from the new regime is clear, sign a deal or be sold. Gone are days where players can run down contracts and leave as free agents, the Gunners want at least some return on their investments.
Lacazette moving to Atletico Madrid provides Arsenal with the perfect opportunity to raise funds for that rebuild. And if it’s a choice between him or the Gabonese international, it’s quite obvious who most Arsenal fans would choose. Their goal records are not comparable by any means.
#2 He has not lived up to expectations
Perhaps it’s a bit unfortunate for the Frenchman that Aubameyang arrived six months after he did. Because in comparison, the 30-year-old has completely upstaged and outperformed him in every department.
In 97 appearances for the Gunners, Aubameyang has scored an impressive 57 goals, averaging a goal per 1.7 games. In stark contrast, Lacazette has scored 42 goals in 118 games, equating to a goal every 2.8 games. That’s not good enough for a player that cost £46.5 million.
If we check the facts, the 28-year-old’s best return for a Premier League season is 14 goals. He was signed with the intention of scoring 30 goals a season to finally replace the strike rate of Robin Van Persie, instead, he’s not even been able to hit 20 in a league season.
Over the past two seasons, a lot has been made of Arsenal’s attacking power but in reality, the Frenchman hasn’t been pulling his weight. Unai Emery wanted to create a Liverpool-like front three with Lacazette acting as the false 9, however, he quickly found out that not only was his strike rate not up to par but so was his link-up play.
#1 Revive Euro 2020 hopes
The 28-year-old has not played a game for France since the 14th of November 2017, where he scored a brace in a friendly against Germany. Since then, Didier Deschamps has not deemed the striker worthy enough of getting into his 23-man squad. He was put on the standby list as a backup for the 2018 World Cup squad but evidently never made the team. Before that, Lacazette had made 16 senior appearances for his country, scoring 3 goals. Lest we forget, the 28-year-old has also represented his country at every level from U16 through to U21.
If the Arsenal forward wants to revive his international career, he has to move now. Whether the Premier League is too physical for him or he’s not compatible with Arsenal’s style of play, Lacazette does not look like a prolific striker in England.
The World Champions will set their eyes on the European Championships this summer and Deschamps will be looking at the second half of the season to confirm his picks for the squad. If Lacazette can make a move to Atletico Madrid, he has the chance to reset his season and find the goalscoring form that will send him to the Euros.
