Arsenal are coming into 2017/18 with their backs to the wall after a disappointing 2016/17, and they’ve seemingly chosen the man they think can fire them back to glory – French striker Alexandre Lacazette.
They’ve parted with £46.5m to bring Lacazette over from Lyon, where he was a prolific goalscorer over the past four seasons. But can he really be the man to bring the glory days back to Arsenal – the days where they were either #1 or #2 in the Premier League and their rivalry with Manchester United dominated England? The jury is out.
Lacazette could well prove to be a hit, but here are five reasons that he might well flop.
#1 He’s not used to the quality of the Premier League
The argument that the Premier League is the world’s best league is a tricky one these days as England hasn’t seen a team in the final of the Champions League since Chelsea won the trophy back in 2012, and the trials and tribulations of the national team are well-known to everyone.
While there are arguments to be made that Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga might be superior to the Premier League, however, nobody has attempted to suggest that France’s Ligue 1 is better. France has a couple of great sides, no doubt – Paris St. Germain and Monaco have both seen Champions League success in the past few seasons – but overall the strength in depth just isn’t close really.
It’s cliché to suggest that a player might not be able to “do it at Stoke on a wet Wednesday night”, but when it comes to Lacazette, the questions have to be asked as he just hasn’t been playing against truly tough defences in France.
And while the Premier League’s top sides might not be as good as Real Madrid or Barcelona, the strength in depth in England is unprecedented, especially as lower sides like Crystal Palace and Swansea continue to improve due to the amount of money now flowing in.
Lacazette did score 7 goals in 12 games in European competition last season which bodes well, admittedly, but the majority of those goals didn’t come against Europe’s bigger sides as Lyon were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages. So whether Lacazette can deliver against tough defences, week in, week out, is still a question mark.
#2 There’s a lot of pressure on him at Arsenal
At £46.5m, Lacazette might not have cost quite as much as Romelu Lukaku did for Manchester United, but even so, his fee is nothing to sneeze at by anyone’s standards. Not only was the fee the highest received by Lyon for any player, but it also broke Arsenal’s own transfer record, set by the signing of Mesut Ozil for £42.5m in 2013.
The difference was that Ozil was already a proven world-class talent – he’d played at the very top level for Real Madrid and won plenty of trophies, and he’d also starred in World Cup and European Championship campaigns for Germany.
Lacazette meanwhile is only just starting his international career – at the age of 26 – has yet to play in a tournament, and isn’t really proven on the world stage in club terms either.
Nobody’s saying that Lacazette might not prove to be a world-class talent, but the truth is that he hasn’t proven that yet on the biggest stage and we’ve seen before that huge fees can act as a millstone around a player’s neck. Look at Fernando Torres at Chelsea for instance, or Andy Carroll at Liverpool.
If Lacazette fails to really hit the ground running then you can bet that the chants of “what a waste of money” will be raining down from opposing fans. And if that does happen, can he really play to his potential? Again, it’s another massive question mark.
#3 Arsenal – and Arsene Wenger – are in decline
Despite winning the FA Cup, nobody can suggest with a straight face that 2016/17 was a successful season for Arsenal. It was the first time they’d dropped out of the top four places since they first made it to the upper reaches of the table in 1996/97, and to rub salt into the wounds, it was the first time they’d finished below bitter rivals Tottenham since the Premier League began.
There’s no denying that the competition has become tougher at the top of the table over the past few years. Manchester City have broken into the elite thanks to the massive amounts of money spent by their oil-rich owners, Tottenham have built one of the league’s best sides under Mauricio Pochettino, Manchester United are rebuilding following the David Moyes disaster, and that isn’t even mentioning Liverpool and Chelsea.
But what can’t be denied is that Arsenal has slipped recently.
Despite being home to some of the Premier League’s best players – Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla to name three – they just haven’t looked right in a long time now, even when a late surge managed to take them to second place in 2015/16. And Arsene Wenger remains a figure of controversy, despite finally signing a lucrative new contract ready for the start of this season.
It still feels like half of Arsenal’s fans want him out, and he’s certainly not the revolutionary figure he was seen as in the 90’s anymore.
So can Lacazette really be the man to sort the club out? I find it doubtful myself. The addition of one striker, however great he is, just can’t paper over the cracks that Wenger’s still leaving at Arsenal. Lacazette has joined a club seemingly in decline, and that makes it even harder for him to succeed.
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#4 There’s nobody to push him if Sanchez and Giroud leave
When a club spends £46.5m on a player, it’s usually because they want them to become the key man in the team, and I’d say the same can be said for Arsenal and Lacazette. He was a goal machine last season at Lyon, scoring 28 league goals in 30 appearances.
He’s used to leading the line – just not for one of Europe’s biggest clubs like he will be at Arsenal.
Thankfully, Lacazette has some of Europe’s top talent to help him along and push him to the best of his abilities at the Emirates. Or does he? While it appears that Mesut Ozil’s future remains with the Gunners, the same likely cannot be said for Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud. Sanchez doesn’t seem happy there at all and his supposed demand of £400k a week was interpreted by most as a potential excuse for him to abandon ship, possibly to Manchester City.
Giroud meanwhile remains linked with the likes of Everton and Borussia Dortmund. And while he isn’t seen as a true world-class talent, he’s been Arsenal’s most consistent striker over the past few seasons. If Giroud and Sanchez leave then what support is there for Lacazette?
You’re looking at the inconsistent Theo Walcott, a crocked Danny Welbeck and unproven talent like Alex Iwobi.
With Wenger renowned for dithering in the transfer market, the likelihood of more signings to compliment Lacazette seems minimal, and so it could be that he’s left alone to carry a side that are suddenly short of world-class talent. Hardly a recipe for success.
#5 We’ve seen this all before
The Premier League has seen a fair few success stories when it comes to strikers entering England from Europe’s lesser stages in the past.
Most notably, Luis Suarez and Ruud van Nistelrooy came over from the Dutch league where their potential had marked them out, and both men went on to give legendary performances in the Premier League and proved they were truly world-class players.
Lacazette could go on to join them, but there’s also a fair chance that he could end up like plenty of others before him – players who scored tons of goals on the lesser stage but just couldn’t get the job done with the bright lights on.
We saw this last season in fact with Vincent Janssen at Tottenham. The Dutchman came in on tremendous form – 31 goals in 49 games for AZ in 2015/16 – but was woeful at Spurs, only scoring six times all season.
And before Janssen there were others. Although he did go on to success as a midfielder, Dirk Kuyt was a goal machine in Holland and then didn’t come close to that sort of return in England.
Mateja Kezman had similar results and if you’re looking for players from France’s Ligue 1, look no further than Steve Marlet – who also came from success at Lyon before flopping at Fulham – and Stephane Guivarc’h, who hit plenty for Rennes and Auxerre before failing miserably at Newcastle.
Lacazette could well prove to be another Suarez, but there’s an equal chance that he’s the next Vincent Janssen or Stephane Guivarc’h, and that’s a scary thought for Arsenal fans.
Also Read: 5 reasons why Alexandre Lacazette will succeed at Arsenal
