Yesterday I said that I didn’t really want to go into any depth on any potential transfer because the summer is going to be a long one and I’ll run out of stuff to talk about.

So of course today I’m going to be forensically analysing the fact that the world and wife have been talking about how Lacazette will be joining Lyon upon to ceasing of his Arsenal contract.

It’s not exactly sensational, left of field, out of the blue news in reality. But it does feel like a fairly standard move and given that Aulas the Lyon Chairman mentioned something along the lines of “we’re trying to sign him” a couple of months back, it seems like a deal that is pretty obviously going to happen.

And good luck to him. He’s come to The Arsenal, he’s seen out his five year deal and he’ll return to a club that he made his name at in France and will probably see his time out as he reaches the end of his career. Hopefully that happens and hopefully he is happy.

When I personally look back on his time at the club, it’ll feel like we went for the wrong guy, at the wrong time, if I’m being honest. Lacazette was a man who it felt like Wenger signed because we couldn’t get other players high on the list. He cost us over £50million and at that time and on the wages he joined on, you really are expecting a guy to bang a few 20+ goals a season during your spell at the club. His best season at The Arsenal came in 2018/19 and he scored 19 goals in 49 games in all competitions, 13 or which came in the Premier League.

So when I reflect on his time I don’t think it will be one I will say was overly successful. Let’s not forget we brought him to replace Olivier Giroud, who was more of a target man, link up play, but had no pace. Giroud has just bagged 14 goals for Milan this season in 38 games. In his best season he got 24 goals in 53 games for The Arsenal.

With Lacazette we got a smaller guy, but we thought – or at least I did – we were going to get a guy who could play as a playmaker and a finisher. At Lyon he wore the number 10 I think and he bagged a shedload of goals. I thought we were going to see a pacey goal scorer that could take us to the level that having a target man in Giroud could not. Yet as we draw to the end of Laca’s contract, those who appreciate the Frenchman say it has been his link up play and the fact he’s been so good for the other young players around, that have been some of his best attributes. I’m sorry, but that’s what we all said we needed an upgrade on Giroud for, so the fact that he exits us with people spinning that narrative only adds to my perception that overall this hasn’t really been a great deal for Arsenal.

Did I ever really know the real Lacazette though? What type of striker was he? Did Arsenal and Arsène ever really know either?

I’m not so sure, for the fact that we went out in the January after signing Lacazette and brought Auba in shows that actually I think Arsenal knew that he probably wasn’t ‘the guy’ and that’s why they brought Auba in. Aubameyang delivered exactly what we needed and as a result Lacazette’s time to me will essentially be remembered as him coming in on big wages, playing second fiddle to a better player (who scored 14 more goals than him in 32 matches less!), then departing back to France where he began his career and made his name.

The Lacazette deal also shows a cautionary tale, because if we get it wrong this summer in the striking position, we could be lumbered with an expensive asset that sets us back years. When we signed Lacazette we had cash in the bank to go out and get Auba within months. If we sign another non-scoring dud, I don’t think we’re dropping more big cash next January to correct it. So Edu and Arteta will be thinking very hard about who they bring in and if that is Gabriel Jesus, we all better hope and pray that he bangs at the club, because we need our striker to hit the ground running.

I guess that’s why all the talk is of players who know the Premier League inside and out and I for one am happy with that. Don’t get me wrong, if we go and get Osimhen from Napoli I’ll be thrilled, but his adaptation period needs to essentially be negligible, because if we fail to score goals in that position from the off in August, I don’t think we’re getting close to challenging for top four.

So whilst we all want juicy news about incomings you happen and happen soon, I am torn between wanting us to get somebody in straight away so they have the summer to acclimatise to The Arsenal, and getting in an oven-ready striker who will drop in to that cent reds l striking position and bang goals like he’s been at the club for a couple of years already. We have the foundations around any striker to give them the service they need; Ødegaard’s chance creation is high, Saka, Smith Rowe and Martinelli can all chip in with goals and assists, plus we have a stable base behind the attacking and creative players. We just need that jigsaw puzzle piece up top to hit form straight away and if that happens, we could be looking at exciting times ahead for The Arsenal.

I shall leave it there for today. It’s going to be a nice day and it’s my old man’s birthday, so I’ll celebrate it with him in the sun.

Have a good one.