Arsenal have announced they have broken their club-transfer record to sign Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette on a five-year deal until 2022.
The Gunners have reportedly shelled out an initial £46.5m to sign the France international, which surpasses the £42.4m they paid Real Madrid for Mesut Ozil in 2013.
Lacazette has been regularly linked with a move to Arsenal in the past and Arsene Wenger has managed to get a deal over the line after Atletico Madrid’s proposed move for the striker collapsed at the end of May.
Arsenal could end up paying £52.6m for the 26-year-old, which would make Lacazette the second most expensive Frenchman of all-time, ahead of Zinedine Zidane who currently occupies second spot.
Wenger’s side have completed the deal in time for Lacazette to travel with the Arsenal squad for their tour party to Sydney this weekend, but his arrival is likely to mean Olivier Giroud leaves before the start of the upcoming season.
Lacazette scored 28 goals in 30 league appearances for Lyon last season, while no player scored more penalties in Europe’s top five leagues than the Frenchman (10).
Furthermore, of players that scored 10 or more goals in Europe’s top leagues last term, only one player had a better conversion rate than Lacazette (33.3%).
For more stats on Alexandre Lacazette, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
