My Arsenal Blog

There has been plenty of speculation when it comes to the future of Alexadre Lacazette lately. There were reports claiming he was unhappy and that his agent had been sounding out potential suitors, and more recently some insinuations about an alleged clause in his contract which would allow him to break away if the team fails to qualify for the Champions League at the end of this season.  .......Read more here.....

On the physicality of the Premier League:
MA – I have said how condensed the calendar is in December and January, normally when you get to February, you start to suffer and pay the price. Normally after the international break in March teams are fresher again to get back the end of the season. It’s part of the process, it’s why this league is so demanding and so nice to play in as well because you have so many games but physically it’s tough.  .......Read more here.....

In the wake of their narrow 1-0 win over in Greece, Arsenal will attempt to secure their place in the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League when they host Olympiakos at the Emirates tonight. Prior to the game, Mikel Arteta and Alexandre Lacazette spoke with the media as the Gunners aim to keep their road to Gdansk going strong.  .......Read more here.....

Alexandre Lacazette has played down speculations about an agreement between his representatives and Arsenal about his alleged right to leave this summer if the team fails to qualify for the Champions League.

Arsenal are currently playing their third campaign in a row in the Europa League. Having been beaten by eventual winners Atletico Madrid in the semi-final in 2017/18, the Gunners made the next step last season and reached the final, only to fall there to Chelsea. This time they’ll be looking to take the next step again, which would of course, mean to win the trophy and reach the Champions League down that path. It might prove a more realistic road than to aim for a top-four finish in the Premier League.  .......Read more here.....

Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette have both spoken out in praise of Mikel Arteta and the changes his arrival brought into the Arsenal team.

First of all, it should be pointed out that the results still aren’t great. After the sacking of Unai Emery in November, the team spent a month in the hands of Freddie Ljungberg as an interim solution, until Arteta arrived and took the reins on December 22. Since then, Arsenal have played nine games in all competitions, winning three, drawing five and losing one.  .......Read more here.....

According to Sky Sports, Atletico Madrid are considering a swoop for Alexandre Lacazette.

The Spanish club have been without the services of Diego Costa for quite a while now, and the former Chelsea striker is set to be out for further two months. His injury has effectively left head coach Diego Simeone with Alvaro Morata as the only option for the position furthest up the pitch, and he plans to counter the problem by dipping into the transfer market this month.  .......Read more here.....

Things haven’t quite gone to plan in the first few months of the campaign for Arsenal, and that much is just kind of obvious. We could spend our time pointing fingers at one another within the squad and determining who is at the root of all the issues, but in reality, it’s a core effort and the club needs to realise that if they are serious about moving forward in a progressive way.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal will be going head to head with Sheffield United on Monday Night Football and one of the biggest questions on the mind of the club’s fans up and down the country will be the team selection. Nobody really knows what Emery is going to do on a week to week basis, and that’s especially true when the club is dealing with some injuries. Today, we’re going to take a quick look at what Emery has said about the fitness of Alexandre Lacazette and Kieran Tierney.

The quotes come from Arsenal.com.  .......Read more here.....

An interesting story has appeared in the media today (Saturday). Apparently, Dmitry Cheltsov, the agent of Alexandre Lacazette, offered Zenit Saint Petersburg the chance to sign the French forward this summer.

TalkSPORT have relayed an interview Cheltsov gave to Sport Business Gazeta, quoting him in saying, “I offered Alexandre Lacazette to Zenit”.

If this is true, then there are several questions that need to be asked here. First of all – whose idea was this? Is it something Lacazette knew about beforehand? Because if he did, then Arsenal have a potential “player wants out” problem in the near future. If not, how was Cheltsov planning to explain to his client that he was working on a deal to send him to Russia?  .......Read more here.....

So the North London Derby ended in a draw, with the two teams scoring two goals apiece.

Perhaps it’s too early at the moment, but the immediate feeling is – disappointment.  More than anything else, it feels like an opportunity missed, a chance for Arsenal to pull away from their fiercest rivals and closest neighbours gone down the drain. The teams could have been five points apart, a big advantage this early in the season, but as it is, the gap remains only two.  .......Read more here.....