UK Edition
Arsenal close in on signing Alexandre Lacazette after increasing their bid
Arsenal are close to agreeing a deal to sign Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon – with the two clubs now just €4 million (£3.5m) apart in their valuations. Arsenal hoped that a deal could be announced early next week.
Arsenal are believed to have now offered more than €50m (£44m) plus significant add-ons to move closer to Lyon’s original asking price of €55m plus €12m in additional payments. Negotiations will continue over the next few days although sources close to the deal claim they are increasingly confident it will be concluded successfully.
It appears that Lyon have agreed to make some concessions on price partly because Arsenal have substantially increased their original bid from €40m which was rejected.
Lacazette had already agreed a deal to join Atlético Madrid this summer but that move was scuppered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport upholding a Fifa transfer ban that prevents them from registering any players until January.
Lacazette's proposed move to Atlético has been further complicated by coach Diego Simeone’s interest in bringing Diego Costa back to the club from Chelsea. Costa wants to return but no deal has been agreed with Chelsea and if it drags on through the transfer window Lacazette could be left in limbo.
Arsenal’s renewed interest in Lacazette, after last year's failed attempt to sign him, provides him with another option given he had finally decided that he wanted to leave Lyon at the end of last season.
Lacazette would prefer to move to a club in the Champions League but played in the Europa League at Lyon. The 26-year-old will also hope that Arsenal’s exclusion from the Champions League is for only one season.
The signing of Lacazette would be popular among Arsenal fans even if it is understood the club has little chance, at present, of signing either Thomas Lemar, after their bid was rejected, or Kylian Mbappé, for whom they have also made an offer, from Monaco.