Paul Merson has written in The Daily Star that Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette is not good enough to start.
However, the former Arsenal star believes that Lacazette is a good player.
The Sky Sports pundit has outlined the attributes of the 30-year-old France international striker.
Merson has added that Arsenal should keep the former Lyon star beyond the end of the season.
The Englishman thinks that the Gunners should keep the striker to play a substitute.
Lacazette is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of the season.
Paul Merson’s verdict
Merson wrote in The Daily Star: “Arsenal need to keep hold of Alexandre Lacazette – but only as a supersub. It must drive Mikel Arteta up the wall because he comes on the other night against Crystal Palace and you think how is he not playing.
“He’s intelligent, he’s sharp, he’s lively. He gets involved. He’s not just a goalscorer he gets involved in the build-up. Arsenal fans must wonder why he’s not in the team. But the problem is he doesn’t do that when he starts. He wants to do the basics.
“Arteta will pulling his hair out, one hundred per cent. If you’re not playing, you’d like to think Lacazette would want to move on and get more minutes. But I look at it and I think that if he can come off the bench and do that on a consistent basis, you can’t let him go, because it’s priceless.”
What does the future hold for Alexandre Lacazette?
First of all, let us address Merson’s comments about Lacazette not being good enough to start.
Well, the striker was starting fairly regularly for Lyon, wasn’t he, before he moved to Arsenal?
The 30-year-old scored 129 goals in 275 matches in all competitions for Lyon.
The problem with Lacazette is that there is a better striker at Arsenal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Lacazette did well as a number 10 when he started against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Friday night.
And now on to Merson’s advice to Arsenal about handing Lacazette a new deal.
Arsenal boss Arteta has already said that it is possible.
But, we have to ask whether the striker himself would sign a new deal at the North London club.
If Lacazette is not playing regularly, then we think that he would love to move on and find a club where he would be playing week in and week out.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
