Walking away from his first North London derby with an assist, Alexandre Lacazette will be happy with his overall performance, even if he didn’t find the back of the net.
Arriving from Lyon for just under £48m, the Arsenal striker has enjoyed a mixed start to the season, scoring six goals and picking up an assist in 13 appearances, and is still adapting to the Premier League.
In fact, the player himself is sure he can do better and will hopefully end up being able to reproduce his Lyon form with the Gunners, as he explained to Téléfoot on Sunday.
He said: “I’ve not been too bad. It’s encouraging for the future. It’s a change from the French league. I think I’ve developed the most in my overall game, and physically in duels where I need to be more present than when I was in Ligue 1.”
One man who has felt the brunt of Lacazette’s arrival is Olivier Giroud, who already lost his regular starting spot at Arsenal last season, and is now spending even less time on Premier League pitches.
Many predicted this, which is why it was surprising to see the former Montpellier star turn down a move to Everton in the summer, and it seems his new teammate half-expected it to.
He explained: “When I arrived at Arsenal, I was a bit apprehensive as to what his reaction would be, but he welcomed me really, really well. I can only thank him as he’s helped me in everyday life, and I’m happy.”
With the World Cup just around the corner, and Alexandre Lacazette given more of a chance by Didier Deschamps recently, it will be interesting to see if Giroud’s situation at the Emirates will also cost him his starting role for the national team.
If so, it’s his Arsenal teammate who is likely to benefit.
At they say, one man’s loss is another man’s gain.
