Arsenal handed transfer boost as Alexandre Lacazette saga takes fresh twist

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Arsenal will reportedly need to pay £38.5million for Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri, but the Gunners feel they can get the Moroccan forward for cheaper by offering Alexandre Lacazette as part of the deal. En-Nesyri joined Julen Lopetegui’s side in January 2020 for a reported fee of €20m (£17m), and his impressive performances have led to speculation linking him with a move away from the club.

The 24-year-old has scored 33 times in 85 games for the Spanish outfit, including 18 goals in La Liga last season – his best in a Sevilla shirt so far.

According to The Athletic, West Ham made a bid worth £27.5m in an attempt to try and acquire the Moroccan forward, but the offer was swiftly rejected.

Now Spanish outlet La Razon say Arsenal are the latest club to closely keep tabs on En-Nesyri, and the Gunners are reportedly considering offering Lacazette to make the fee cheaper.

With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, Lacazette could be offloaded in January to avoid the Frenchman from departing for free at the end of June.

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Lacazette will be free to negotiate a potential pre-contract with clubs from January onwards should he wish to do so.

The Frenchman hasn’t started a single league game for Arsenal this season and the 30-year-old has played just 31 minutes in total in the Premier League so far.

But Arteta has recently insisted Lacazette is still part of his plans and has an important role to play at the Emirates.

“No, he’s fully involved,” Arteta told reporters ahead of the fixture against Burnley.

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“You give the reasons why he hasn’t played more minutes and he will be back to the form that he can achieve. I am sure that he will be instrumental in our success.”

Arsenal were the biggest spenders in the summer transfer window, but no money was spent on bringing in a new striker.

En-Nesyri would provide competition for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the sole position up top, although the Gabon international has at time been used out wide by Mikel Arteta.

However, the Gunners are not the only club keeping tabs on En-Nesyri, with Italian duo Juventus and AC Milan and Atletico Madrid are all said to be big admirers.

The striker is set to head off to the Africa Cup of Nations in January and the club are said to be keen on signing a replacement to fill the void left by En-Nesyri, especially given fellow Sevilla forward Munir will also represent Morocco.

En-Nesyri has begun the new campaign in similar goalscoring vein, scoring three times in six La Liga appearances.

Arsenal meanwhile, will be looking to continue their fine run of form when they travel to Brighton in the Premier League next Saturday. 

The Gunners have leapfrogged rivals Tottenham and are up to 10th in the table after three league wins in a row. 

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