The waves around the Emirates Stadium are filled with excitement around the prospective acquisition of one or two French strikers namely: Kylian Mbappe and Alexandre Lacazette.
The question is, who is best suited for Arsenal at this very moment?
The north London club are already equipped with firepower at the front but they lack consistency and with the probability of some players heading for the exit, replacements and even strengthening in some regard is key for the Gunners.
In order to find a reasonable striking solution, let’s take a closer look at both strikers.
Kylian Mbappe is an 18-year-old youngster who is evidently very similiar in style of play to Arsenal legend Theirry Henry. This sentiment is confirmed by his displays in the just concluded season.
He is lightening quick on the counter with or without the ball. When it comes to ball control and one on one abilities, his composure and finesse are absolutely deft which is reminiscent to that of Henry.
His ability to show up and turn up in big games is exceptional. He exhibits a very contagious confidence to a point where his teammates are inspired to catch on and perform on the same frequency.
However, despite the listed attributes above, unlike the legend, his assists stats are yet to mature. Furthermore, his aerial ability doesn’t match his other abilities. Finally, his talents are judged based on just one season in Ligue 1 football and a couple of European exploits in the same season as well.
There is no doubt his addition to the Arsenal squad is a move that will strengthen the pack. However, how he would fare in the English League against oppositions like the Shawcrosses, Virgil van Dijks’ and teams in the shape of Stoke City remains to be seen.
Henry in a recent interview heaped praises on the youngster and that in itself makes Mbappe an exciting prospect for any team especially the Gunners.
Alexandre Lacazette is also a prolific striker with 30+ goals to show for it and the Frenchman has age on his side.
His attributes include a penchant for getting past opposition defenders with relative ease as his dribbling ability is excellent, provide assists for teammates and attract fouls to his team’s advantage.
He is also a prolific penalty taker and his confidence in taking long range shots make him a deadly striker. His pace is electrifying as well and his upper body strength is very impressive.
His statistics are clearly on another level. Unlike French counterpart in this piece, he can be measured/judged over three seasons of performance. This in turns helps us to have a measure of the man and predict with some amount of precision how he would fare in the English Premier League or anywhere else for that matter.
His biggest attribute which is his “finishing” makes him a candidate for becoming an instant hit anywhere he goes especially England. Players like Wayne Rooney, Diego Costa, Didier Drogba, Van Nistelrooy have proved that defenders are more threatened by attackers who are incredible finishers over the years and unlike the listed names, Lacazette possesses “close ball control” and is seemingly more technically gifted with and without the ball than these absolutely brilliant strikers.
However, the fact that he has only been tested in the Ligue 1 and a couple more European games than his counterpart, leaves some room for doubt in terms of adaptability to the English game. Furthermore, the language barrier may delay his ability to hit the ground running as strikers need to communicate with their suppliers from the midfield to enhance effective and efficient attacks.
So the answer to the question above can only be best described as “Relative”. Relative in the sense that it depends more on what interests the questioner, as both strikers would be excellent additions to the Gunners.
