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‘His legs don’t move’: Alan Smith says one Arsenal player is so slow now
Alan Smith spoke to this week about Arsenal star Alexandre Lacazette and the club’s striker situation.
The Gunners let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang walk away for nothing last month. The Gabon star fell out with Mikel Arteta and as Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi learned in the past, there’s no coming back from that situation.
Arsenal only have Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah up top now. It can be argued that they will do a job for Mikel Arteta until the end of the season, but both players will be out of contract this summer.
Lacazette’s recent performances have made people urge Arsenal to hand him a new deal. Alan Smith, however, believes he has lost his pace now.
Alan Smith: Arsenal star Alexandre Lacazette is much slower than before
He said: “The players that can get 15-20 goals these days cost about £80 million. Are Arsenal going to be able to get those players when Champions League teams will be after them as well?
“They tried to get Vlahovic, the boy from Fiorentina who went to Juventus, that didn’t quite work. I’m hoping they can get one. Maybe they need two central strikers in the summer.
“Lacazette, I don’t know what they’ll do with him. Will he want to sign again, a shorter contract? It looks like Nketiah if off.
“Lacazette has been a very good servant, but you know, his legs don’t move quite as quickly as they once did. He was never quick, but obviously with Aubameyang gone, that is an area where Arsenal are short.”
TBR View:
Lacazette has never been a quick forward and considering that he’s 30 now, he won’t be getting any faster in the coming months and years.
However, the Frenchman is absolutely incredible in what he does. The way he drops deep and links play up is outstanding and there are very few players in the country who work as hard as he does for the team.
It will be interesting to see what Arsenal will do with Lacazette this summer.
Keeping hold of him will definitely not be a bad idea, but he’ll just be a short term option and the Gunners will have to sign one prolific goalscorer irrespective of what happens with the former Lyon man.
