A day doesn’t go past when we aren’t linked with a new striker. And, it seems, when the papers can’t think of someone new, they start going round again.
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By now, we all know about Alexandre Lacazette, one of the most promising footballing talents on the planet, but for some reason no one will believe that he actually intends to stay at Lyon – as he claims he wants to do.
In quotes taken by Goal last month, he said: “I would like to extend my contract. I am at Lyon and if I feel that the project is continuing to move forward, I see myself staying – even if we do not qualify for the Champions League.”
As it stands, Lyon are going to make it to the Champions League anyway – they currently sit in second place in Ligue 1 – eleven points clear of fourth place Marseille. Third place AS Monaco can still overtake Lyon, meaning that they’d have to go through the qualifying rounds, but even that looks unlikely.
So where could the Daily Express possibly have got this story from? Well, we need a striker, that much is certain. We also have an excellent reputation for developing attacking players – just look at Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez. He’d be guaranteed game time in one of the world’s most reputable leagues and that would boost his prospects with France ahead of Euro 2016.
Whether that would be enough to sway the 23-year-old, who has scored 31 goals in all competitions this season, remains to be seen. Either way, £20m is unlikely to convince Lyon to sell their prize asset, who would clearly not be unhappy about the prospect of staying put.