Former Liverpool midfielder John Barnes doesn’t think Arsenal should renew Alexandre Lacazette’s contract at the club.
The Frenchman has just over a year left on his deal at the Emirates Stadium with his contract expiring in June 2022.
Lacazette, who has 13 league goals to his name this term, is one short of his best goalscoring return in a Premier League season, when he got 14 in 2017/18.
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The Gunners are having a disappointing campaign in the league but the former Lyon striker has hit some form recently, bagging six goals in his last six appearances in all competitions.
Sevilla, Roma and Atletico Madrid have been linked with Lacazette with his contract situation lowering his value at Arsenal.
And Barnes reckons Arsenal should allow Lacazette to leave if they aren’t going to play him over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Barnes told BonusCodeBets: “Arsenal renewing Alexandre Lacazette’s contract in the summer depends on how Arsenal are going to play. If they are going to play two [up top] with Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang all the time, probably not.
“They have Bukayo Saka and Pepe who want to play as wingers, with Aubameyang, who wants to play down the middle, but also have Lacazette, who wants to play in the same position.
“Arsenal must think about what they want for the future because Lacazette and Aubameyang are not necessarily going to play together all the time as that isn’t the way Mikel Arteta wants to play.
“Why would they give Lacazette a new contract, if Mikel Arteta is going to say Aubameyang is going to be their main striker? Unless Lacazette is going to continue doing what he is now [coming off the bench].
“It doesn’t seem like it’ll be the situation at Arsenal whereby two of them [Aubameyang and Lacazette] will be on long contracts and high earners if they aren’t playing regularly.”
On reports that clubs are interested in signing Lacazette in the summer, Mikel Arteta recently said: “I am always happy when people talk about our players and speculate, that means they are doing well and they are getting attention from other clubs.
“The situation with Laca, we’ll address in the summer, speak to him and just propose the future that we want – and that’s it.
“Now, I just want players focused and only focused on performing and getting the best out of them for the team.
“I think he has been really good. I think he has been in really good form for months now. I think he is sustaining that level.
“He is scoring goals and providing the team with something different as well. His work-rate has been phenomenal and it is what we want.
“We need those type of players hitting the best level when we want to have the chance to do that, because over the course of the season we have been missing goals.
“We have been missing that creativity in the final third and we need those players to step in and make the difference for the team.”
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