Arsenal chiefs ’preparing Alexandre Lacazette swap deal’ to solve Mikel Arteta problem

Arsenal and Burnley fans fight post game

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Arsenal are willing to include Alexandre Lacazette in a player-plus-cash deal to land Sevilla forward Youssef En-Nesyri in January, according to reports. Lacazette has played just once under Mikel Arteta in the Premier League this season and looks set to call time on his spell in north London at the end of the campaign.

The Frenchman will be out of contract next summer and is not expected to sign fresh terms with Arsenal before the expiry of his current deal.

He was linked with a move elsewhere throughout the recent summer transfer window, with Atletico Madrid and Juventus having previously been mentioned in connection with his services.

However, Arsenal were unable to sell the 30-year-old and now face the possibility of losing him for nothing at the end of the season.

The Gunners have struggled at the top of the pitch in recent weeks, with Arteta’s side scoring just twice in the Premier League since their opening-day defeat at Brentford.

Lacazette was ruled out of his side’s first two outings with COVID-19 before returning to the fold against Manchester City, but was left as an unused substitute for the wins over Norwich City and Burnley.

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It seems as though Arsenal chiefs are preparing to solve two problems at once by replacing Lacazette with En-Nesyri at the next available opportunity, according to Rudy Galetti via Transfermarketweb.

The report claims that En-Nesyri, who scored 24 times for Sevilla last season, has been identified as one of Arteta’s top targets ahead of the January transfer window.

Arsenal have already lodged an enquiry over the Moroccan forward’s availability and would be prepared to send Lacazette to Sevilla in exchange for his services.

Such a move would see the Gunners avoid being left empty-handed upon Lacazette’s potential departure at the end of the season.

It would also bolster Arteta’s ranks with the addition of a proven goalscorer with plenty of room for growth and future development.

However, Sevilla are under no immediate pressure to sell their prized asset, with En-Nesyri under contract until the summer of 2025.

He already has two goals and two assists from five competitive matches this season and looks set to play a big role for the La Liga heavyweights over the coming months.

It remains to be seen whether Arsenal will be able to land En-Nesyri in exchange for Lacazette in January as they go in search of a return to the Premier League’s upper reaches.

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The Gunners were the division’s biggest spenders over the summer, splashing in excess of £150million on six new players.

Arteta recently explained that much of his recent business was conducted to benefit the club’s long-term future, with the likes of Albert Sambi Lokonga, Ben White and Nuno Tavares set to form a new young core over the next few years.

“We have to be sustainable,” the Arsenal boss told Sky Sports last month. “We have to perform now and we also need a plan for the medium and the long term.

“A lot of the decisions we have made over the last 18 months are because we had a big imbalance in certain areas that was putting the club in a difficult position.

“Then, we wanted to recruit talent, specificity, and players with a big capacity to interact with the players who already exist here and who could develop into potential starters and increase the level of the team and the squad.”

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