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Confirmed: Arsenal announce record £46m signing of Lacazette

By mac14 on July 5, 2017

Arsenal have signed Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon in a deal worth up to £52.7m with the striker penning a five-year contract, the club confirmed this evening.

Lacazette has been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates in recent weeks after Arsene Wenger identified him as his prime striker target and we’ve been in talks with Lyon for some time.

An agreement with the Ligue 1 outfit was finally reached and Lacazette flew-in to London on Tuesday morning to undergo his medical at the clubs training base [via the BBC].

The medical tests were swiftly completed but we’ve been forced to sit tight for the announcement as Lyon are listed on the French stock exchange and they couldn’t confirm anything until after 5pm.

With the market closed, Arsenal have announced on Arsenal.com that Lacazette has joined the club for an undisclosed fee – although the BBC claim we’ve paid £46.5m which could rise to £52.6m including add ons.

Therefore, Lacazette becomes our club record signing – eclipsing the £42m we paid for Mesut Ozil – and he’s expected to link up with his new team mates on our pre-season tour of Australia next week.

The Frenchman becomes our second signing of the summer following the arrival of Sead Kolasinac from Schalke and I think Lacazette will prove to be an excellent addition to the squad.

He bagged 37 goals for Lyon last season and has been one of the most prolific striker’s in Europe over the past three years so he’ll certainly provide a genuine goal-threat up front.

The 26-year-old is fast and is clearly a superb finisher so I think he’ll be a big upgrade on Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud – let’s just hope we see Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil supplying him next season.