Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could be willing to match the asking price of Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette as he looks to keep hold of star duo Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez at the Emirates.
According to The London Evening Standard, the 67-year-old is eager to recruit a world-class marksman to his ranks this summer in order to persuade the likes of Ozil and Sanchez to stay put at the club.
The FA Cup holders failed with a £28.5m approach for Lacazette during the previous summer transfer window, and he is likely to cost them in excess of £53m this time around.
Despite this, the long-standing manager has not been put off from the player’s pursuit as he bids to end the club’s 13-year Premier League drought.
Lacazette, who bagged 37 goals during the recent Ligue 1 campaign, was initially holding out for a switch to Atletico Madrid, but their failure to overturn their transfer ban pulled the plug on the deal.
He has since suggested that Champions League is not a compulsion at his next club, although he would require regular playing time in order to break into the France squad on a regular basis.
AS Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe is also a transfer target for Arsene Wenger’s team, but a deal for Lacazette looks fairly simpler owing to his reduced valuation when compared to a likely world-record fee for the 18-year-old.
Both Sanchez and Ozil have just a year left on their existing deals, and they are likely to assess the transfer activity during the summer before committing their futures to the club.
