According to David Ornstein, Arsenal rejected a ‘substantial’ offer from Roma for Alexandre Lacazette towards the end of the summer transfer window.
Speaking on the Tifo Podcast‘s YouTube channel (9:14), Ornstein said: ‘Arsenal did receive a substantial offer towards the end of the transfer window just gone from Roma for Lacazette. It fell below their valuation for him, and so he stayed put.’
Ornstein adds that, while he isn’t certain, he doesn’t believe Roma will come back in for the France international this January.
He also believes that the Gunners are prioritising his return to top-form, instead of plotting ways to move him away from the Emirates Stadium.
We’re not going to say that Arsenal made a mistake in rejecting Roma’s offer seeing as Lacazette has proved his worth in the past. However, the ex-Lyon man’s current form is surely damaging his value.
The 29-year-old has just three goals in nine appearances this season, and has missed a handful of golden chances in recent games.
His header against Aston Villa, which he powered over the bar, is just one example.
The £46.5 million man is, however, just going through a sticky patch in front of goal, we hope.
Lacazette has shown he knows where the goal is previously, having netted 19 goals in 2018/19 and 12 in 2019/20.
The Arsenal No.9 – who earns £182,063-a-week at the club according to Spotrac – is probably just suffering in Mikel Arteta’s system right now.
You might argue against that, but even Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang only has two Premier League goals so far this season, so there are clearly issues in attack.
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