Arsenal Complete Record Signing of Lacazette

[caption id="attachment_21841" align="alignnone" width="648"]Lacazette[/caption]

English Premier League giants Arsenal have completed the signing of France striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for a club record £46.5m fee on a five-year deal.

The fee which could rise to £52.6m with add-ons, surpasses the £42.4m the Gunners paid Real Madrid for Mesut Ozil in 2013.

The 26-year-old is expected to travel with the squad this weekend for two friendly matches in Australia next week.

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“Arsenal are the club that plays the best football in England so I really wanted to come here,” said Lacazette.

“Throughout my childhood and thanks to Arsenal’s former striker Thierry Henry and other French players, I always dreamed of playing for this club so that dream has been fulfilled.

“I like clubs with a history and the fact that the manager has been here for a while shows that it is a stable club. There are quite a few French players at the club which will make it easy to settle in.”

Lacazette, who has won 11 caps for France, was the second-highest scorer in Ligue 1 last season with 28 goals. He netted 129 goals in 275 matches in all competitions for Lyon after breaking into the first team in the 2009-10 campaign.

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“We are very happy to have Alexandre join our group. He has shown over a number of years that he can score goals and that he is a very efficient finisher,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

“He has very interesting technical qualities and a strong character. So he is a guy who is a great addition for us, and someone who will help us challenge at the top level this season.”

The French striker becomes Wenger’s second signing this summer following the arrival of Left-back Sead Kolasinac from Schalke.

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