Arsenal star Alexandre Lacazette can emulate Luis Suarez impact, says Arsene Wenger

ARSENE WENGER has backed his record signing, Alexandre Lacazette, to emulate Luis Suarez – but without that infamous bite!

Arsenal star Alexandre LacazetteGETTY

Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger tips Alexandre Lacazette to emulate Luis Suarez

He reckons his new ‘bargain buy’ can do for Arsenal what Suarez has done for Barcelona, his country Uruguay and his former club Liverpool.

Much depends on whether Alexis Sanchez sticks around, but if he does then Wenger is confident the Chilean and Lacazette could become a devastating double act.

“All the ingredients are there,” he claims. “They are both good goalscorers, good finishers, good passers, and have good assists.

“The rest will be more about the desire to play with each other, but usually the good players have that. And if it works, it will be fantastic.

He is getting better and stronger every week

Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger on Alexandre Lacazette

“One of the qualities of Suarez is he manages to get the best out of people around him. And that is a quality that is important and sometimes you cannot measure so much because you only look at the number of goals a guy has scored. But sometimes the way he can marry with people around him decides the quality of the team.”

It’s also a sign of the crazy financial times top clubs now operate in that Wenger reckons Lacazette has also become a bargain buy in just a matter of weeks.

Arsenal forked out £52million to land the French striker from Lyon last month, but his new boss genuinely believes that if he had waited until now to sign him he would have had to pay a lot more.

“The inflation sometimes is so quick within the transfer market that the timing of your buys is very important,” said Wenger. “And considering the market, I think it is a decent price (for Lacazette).”

Alexis Sanchez in great form at Arsenal training

That’s why the Gunners boss is confident it will be money well spent if he hits it off with Sanchez, with the pair expected to make their Premier League bow together for the first time this afternoon. 

It is a work in progress that Wenger accepts will take time, but he’s excited over what the finished article could become.

“He (Lacazette) is a bit surprised by the intensity of it all in training and in the games,” the manager revealed. “But he will get there because he is brave and intelligent and is slowly adapting. He is getting better and stronger every week.

“You have many types of strikers and he is the one who is more of a combination player than a finisher. But the quality of his finishing is top class.”

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?