Arsenal fans are getting very excited by the prospect of France striker Alexandre Lacazette being officially signed in the coming days after it became clear that the club are in negotiations with Lyon.
Reports had been coming in from all angles in the early hours of Friday morning after weeks of speculation, but BBC's David Ornstein has an excellent track record with Arsenal transfer business and his view that the club are prepared to break their record transfer fee to bring Lacazette in has gone down very well with Gunners fans.
Arsenal are close to agreeing a deal to sign Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette. Negotiations continuing, expected to be club record fee #AFC
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) June 30, 2017
Sky Sports are also reporting that a record fee is on the horizon, and they believe that Arsenal have told Lyon that they are willing to offer £45m.
Arsenal have told Lyon they are willing to pay £45m plus add-ons for striker Alexandre Lacazette, Sky sources understand.
The previous record fee that Arsenal paid was to bring Mesut Ozil in from Real Madrid for a reported £38 with add-ons, so any fee for Lacazette would break the £40m barrier.
Considering the prices that are being suggested for various players around Europe, that seems like a very reasonable fee, although Arsenal have been made to regret purchasing Ligue 1 strikers on a number of times before.
Lacazette, however, is much less of a gamble as he has shown himself to be a very talented player over the past few years, and his arrival to the Premier League will be very interesting to watch next season.
