Arsenal Agree To Trigger £34.2m Clause As Wenger Closes-In On West Ham Target

The opening of the summer transfer window is now open so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal have stepped-up their interest in Alexandre Lacazette….

Arsenal have made it clear to Lyon they are prepared to meet a £34.2m clause in Alexandre Lacazette’s contract that will trigger formal transfer talks as Arsene Wenger steps-up his search for a new striker, according to the Telegraph.

Wenger has been on the look-out for a new frontman this summer to offer competition to Olivier Giroud next season and several names have been linked with a move to the Emirates after we failed to land Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy last month.

Lacazette has now emerged as a realistic target with the Sun reporting just yesterday that the boss had opened preliminary talks with Lyon and the strikers agent about a potential move to north London.

It seems during those talks Arsenal put their cards on the table as the Telegraph claim that we’ve made it clear to the Ligue 1 outfit that we’re ready to meet a £34.2m (€40m) clause in Lacazette’s contract that will trigger formal transfer talks.

No official offer has been made just yet and the clause isn’t understood to be a traditional buyout clause but rather a figure that will prompt advanced negotiations so it’s not clear whether we’ll end up having to pay more than £34.2m if we push ahead with the deal.

The newspaper also suggests that Wenger, who has been working as a television pundit during the Euro’s, took the opportunity to meet with the 25-year-old’s agent after France’s recent win over the Republic of Ireland in Lyon.

Arsenal aren’t the only club showing a keen interest as the Telegraph claim that West Ham have already failed with a series of bids for Lacazette this summer with the striker believed to have rejected the idea of moving to the Hammers while PSG and Atletico Madrid are also monitoring his situation.

Lacazette has just come off the back of another impressive campaign with Lyon that saw him score 23 goals in 44 games to help secure a place in the Champions League next season so he’d certainly bring another goal threat to the squad if he was to make the move to the Emirates this summer.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news

I don’t see him as the finished article just yet but the French international has all the ingredients needed to become a top class striker and I think Wenger could get the best out of him in the Premier League, so I’d be glad to see him come to Arsenal over the coming weeks.