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Arsenal agree to pay £34m as Wenger steps-up striker hunt

By on July 6, 2016

According to the Telegraph, Arsenal have informed Lyon we are willing to meet a £34m clause in Alexandre Lacazette’s contract that will trigger formal talks over a potential transfer this summer.

Arsene Wenger is desperately trying to sign a new striker after missing out on Jamie Vardy and Lacazette is understood to be on the bosses target list along with the likes of Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku.

However, it seems that Lacazette may be the main target as the Telegraph claim that we’ve now informed Lyon that we’re prepared to meet a £34.2m clause in the strikers contract.

The paper says that it’s not a traditional buyout clause as it will only instigate formal transfer talks, so we may actually end up having to pay more than £34.2m if we decided to push ahead with a deal.

The Telegraph suggest that Wenger has already held talks with the 25-year-old’s agent while in Lyon recently working for TV covering the France v Republic of Ireland game at Euro 2016.

We aren’t the only club interested as it’s claimed that West Ham have already seen two bids rejected by Lyon while Atletico Madrid could step-up their interest if they fail to re-sign Diego Costa from Chelsea, but as it stands we’re favourites should Lacazette leave this summer.

It’s important to stress that we haven’t actually tabled a formal offer as yet but simply made it clear we are willing to meet the £34.2m clause, but that in itself is a significant move by Wenger.

There is so much speculation surrounding which striker we are after right now it’s difficult to know what’s going on but I think Wenger is just scouring the market to see who’s available and what kind of deal can be done before making a final decision.

No doubt Morata, Lukaku and Lacazette are all under consideration and it will probably come down to price. Morata and Lukaku appear to be valued at above £50m so the smart money would be on Lacazette but we’ll have to wait and see how things develop.

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If we do end up with Lacazette then I’d be quietly pleased. He’s not the finished article but he is quick, powerful and knows where the goal is so he has the potential to be top class.

The 25-year-old bagged 23 goals in 44 games for Lyon last season and that was after a very poor start so I reckon he could score 30+ at Arsenal with Ozil and Sanchez supplying him if he settles in England.