Arsenal could complete the signing of Alexandre Lacazette within the next 48 hours, according to Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas.
The French striker is set to become Arsenal’s record signing after Lyon showed greater flexibility over their £57million asking price, and it appears that Lacazette will now join for a fee worth around £43m.
Aulas told Le Progress that the deal could be complete in “one or two days”, adding: “The transfer [fee] will be between €45million and €50m. Being close to €50m is unique, and will probably be a record for Arsenal and Olympique Lyonnais as well.
“We will probably reach a new record, it’s not a small transfer, €50m for a player trained by our club.”
Lacazette is expected to arrive in London in the coming days to complete a transfer that would constitute a significant coup for Arsenal.
The deal looks set to eclipse the £42m Arsenal paid Real Madrid for Mesut Ozil in the summer of 2013 and will furnish Wenger with the marquee striker he has long coveted.
Arsenal transfer targets for summer 2017
Arsenal have been keen observers of Lacazette for several years and saw a bid for the 26-year-old rejected last summer. Though they started the window with Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe as their number one target, for whom they saw an informal £87m bid rejected, recent days have seen increased focus on the Lyon striker.
Lacazette has scored 113 goals for Lyon in 183 appearances in all competitions across the last four seasons, winning the Ligue 1 golden boot in 2014-15 and being named in France’s team of the season on three occasions.
