The manager of Arsenal football club, Mikel Arteta failed to confirm whether or not Alexandre Lacazette has a future at the club ahead of the club’s league game against Aston Villa.
Alexandre Lacazette who has been playing for Arsenal since July 5, 2017, is currently at the tail end of his contract. His stay at the club will expire on June 30, 2022, and the future of the Frenchman is not clear yet.
Based on the agreement between him and Arsenal, Lacazette is free is to start negotiating with other clubs from January. The 30-year-old France international has been linked with a couple of clubs but no strong offer on the table for him yet.
In the last couple of games involving Arsenal, Lacazette has proven that he still has all it takes to help the Gunners to return to prominence.
His biggest performance so far this season came on October 18 when he scored the equalizer against Crystal Palace in the additional five minutes of the game.
Late drama from @LacazetteAlex 💥
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 19, 2021
All the highlights from #ARSCRY 👇
If the Frenchman had not scored the injury-time goal that earned Arsenal a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, Mikel Arteta, and his boys would have been sitting on the 13th spot. But the draw pushed the club a step higher to the 12th spot with 11 points in 8 games.
In the pre-match conference ahead of the Arsenal vs Aston Villa game which will kick off at 20:00 on Friday, October 22, Mikel Arteta said Lacazette remains very motivated despite his uncertain future at the club.
The coach stressed that the Frenchman is still an important player at the club but his future would be clearer at the end of the season.
While explaining the state of Lacazette’s contract, Mikel Arteta said: “It’s the situation that we have and we have to accept it.
“I cannot ask anything from the player… and it’s not an individual situation because it has a knock-on effect.
“All of this we have had to deal with in the past and still now, we have to see what the best option is for everybody at the end of the season.
“I had no doubts about that [his motivation] and if I did I would probably have decided to do something different in the summer if the motivation was just his financial future.
“It’s not the case with Laca and he has shown that since I’ve been here every single day and that he remains a really important player for us.
“I think he was able to transmit that energy [against Crystal Palace] and that was contagious for the rest of the team and the stadium.
“He created a different atmosphere straight away, with his determination and his quality and he tried to change the result straight away and [had] that belief in himself that he could do it.”
Mikel Arteta has lauded Alexandre Lacazette's recent impact at Arsenal but refused to confirm whether the forward will be offered a new contract amid uncertainty over his future.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 21, 2021
Since Lacazette joined Arsenal from Lyon four years ago for €53 million, the 30-year-old French striker has scored 68 goals and provided 29 assists in 175 appearances in all competitions.
