Klaus is wrong on this one. This guy is a significant improvement on what we have. If we bring him and dump Lucas or Welbeck, the team is much better, and Ozil has someone more useful to aim at.

If we then bring in Lamar and drop one of Walcott, Lucas, Ox, etc., again, we have made another improvement.

I would like to see a team that walks out and has Mbappe, Nainggolan and Aubameyang in addition to keeping Ozil and Sanchez. That would be amazing ambition. Unfortunately, we are unlikely to get those and are more likely to get nothing or a team filled with Lucases. I would rather end up with something a level below the very best stars and try our best. If you guys think we can attract Mbappe/Nainggolan/Aubameyang level quality players with the current board and management, then then John W Henry was right - y'all are smoking something strong.

Gazza M wrote:

Aside from mbappe who else currently fits that description though? Morata?

Mbappe, Morata, Aubameyang. Costa is unwanted and heavily rumoured to leave Chelsea. Why not lodge a serious bid for him? They're selling Matic to United at the moment. They sold us Cech in the past. They might sell to us again. We just missed out on Lukaku who is far from my favourite player but still twice the footballer Lacazette is.

Doesn't even have to be a striker. Get a top wide man in like Dembele and commit Alexis to being a forward. So there are actually far more options open on the market

Klaus wrote:

Gazza M wrote:

Aside from mbappe who else currently fits that description though? Morata?

Mbappe, Morata, Aubameyang. Costa is unwanted and heavily rumoured to leave Chelsea. Why not lodge a serious bid for him? They're selling Matic to United at the moment. They sold us Cech in the past. They might sell to us again. We just missed out on Lukaku who is far from my favourite player but still twice the footballer Lacazette is.

Yikes.  I'm totally the opposite on the laca vs lukaku spectrum. Lukaku is bottom rung for me. Auba is off the table for a few reasons  (age, afcon commitments, wages). Id deffo prefer morata though

Aulus has said he wants to leave

I have to agree. I'd take Laca over Lukaku. Like Dules said though there are alternatives such as finding a goal scoring AM (James?) and pushing Alexis up top.

Lacazette is not the very best, but someone who Ozil can aim at, and if given a chance, can finish.

I don't get the hype over Morata at the moment. He has a great base, but for his price, you need to make sure you are buying almost guaranteed goals. £70m plus, for a guy like Morata, is crazy.

Aubameyang would be my choice, forget AFCON, he would be the perfect foil for Ozil and Sanchez, a signing of real ambition. Unfortunately we are not linked whatsoever with him. Lukaku is a non starter as well due to his absurd price.

Oh what we should have done a couple of years ago....

Klaus wrote:

Gazza M wrote:

Aside from mbappe who else currently fits that description though? Morata?

Mbappe, Morata, Aubameyang. Costa is unwanted and heavily rumoured to leave Chelsea. Why not lodge a serious bid for him? They're selling Matic to United at the moment. They sold us Cech in the past. They might sell to us again. We just missed out on Lukaku who is far from my favourite player but still twice the footballer Lacazette is.

Behave Klaus. Lukaku is not much better than Lacazette, if at all.

Look, I'm less fond of Lukaku than 95 percent of this board. He's a proper shithouse player in my view, but he has a few excellent qualities. That is more than I can say about Lacazette.

He can shoot and is a good finisher, which is already more than our current starting striker.

Icardi, Aubameyang, Schick, Mbappe, Morata.

I'd take Lukaku over most of the options named here.

A lot of shite talked about other players too. Mbappe we are after so he'll either come or he wont. Auba wants so much money no one in Europe is willing to pay it. Morata is an overrated, flavour of month player with half a good season to show for himself. Schick is a kid with fuck all to show for himself, be a good back up striker signing but not a starter. Costa is scum that we shouldn't even consider.

I'd take Celtic's Dembele over Lacazette

Sky Sources: Arsenal have told Lyon they are willing to pay £45m plus add-ons for striker Alexandre Lacazette.

Why does everyone hate this guy so much? I don't get it.

Coombs wrote:

Why does everyone hate this guy so much? I don't get it.

Not flashy enough? Because he's not Mbappe? I for one would be thrilled to have him.

David Ornstein‏Verified account @bbcsport_david 12m12 minutes ago
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Arsenal are close to agreeing a deal to sign Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette. Negotiations continuing, expected to be club record fee #AFC

I mean, the vitriol, and not just on this board, borders on the ludicrous. Every striker we're talking about signing is from a lower tier than the elite bracket. Every single one. Some, I'd say, are even lower tier than Lacazette even, yet they are offered up as better alternatives. Maybe it's just because he's the most likely signing, and folks are getting themselves riled up to hate on Wenger, Gazidis, Kroenke et al when/if he proves underwhelming?

They guy knows what he's doing on a counter attack, which is more than I can say for any of our current players bar Ozil. He also knows how to play in the center at point, he's not a conversion project. He scores goals. He can dribble past a man, make run off the backs of players, and hold the ball up. He's tough. He's not big enough to be a great header of the ball, but that's what you keep Giroud around for. His main asset is his intelligence, which normally Klaus likes in a player, but for whatever reason not in this case. He's always aware of what's around him, and always looking for a route to goal. Because of this, he can keep defenders pinned back and keep the space between the lines free for Ozil/Sanchez/Ramsey to exploit.

His game is rooted in the basics. He's not got a lot of personality/flair on the pitch, but he plays the right pass or turns his man more often than not. He's good in tight spaces, can keep the ball right under him, he's no kick and run type like Walcott or even Wiltord. He's very functional in his ball skills, and has just enough to get the job done.

He's better than Perez, Walcott, Welbeck, and Giroud (overall). He's more proven as a forward and a goal-scorer than Mbappe or Morata. By far. He's better than Lukaku in every aspect of the game apart from those that deal specifically with size, and in terms of hold-up, he holds his own regardless. Costa is a cunt. Icardi as well, but I haven't seen anything that suggests he's any better than Lacazette either. Both play in crap leagues and its impossible to say how they'd adapt. Schick shouldn't even be in this conversation.

I would sign Aubameyang over Lacazette, sure. I'd sign Mbappe regardless.

he has pace
hes a good finisher
hes 100x better than welbeck

he wasnt in my top 5 on the wishlist but he other guys werent realistic.

my worry is he wont be sufficiently motivated since he really wanted to go to atletico

Coombs, how do you know so much about him from highlights? Or do you actively follow the French league?