Alexandre Lacazette has revealed Francis Coquelin convinced him to join Arsenal.
France international Lacazette become the most expensive player in the Gunners' history when he joined from Lyon for £52m.
And the striker admitted he has known the midfielder since they were playing youth football for their national team and have been buddies ever since.
“What happened was that we had won the European U-19 Championship in France the previous day, so we only arrived at the hotel an hour before we had to set off for the Emirates!” Lacazette told Arsenal Player.
“We arrived in good time for the warm-up. It’s just that by the time we travelled from the training camp in France to London, there was only an hour or two to spare.
“Francis and I kept in touch after that. We’ve had a lot of contact over the last few years and even more over the last few weeks, of course, since it became increasingly likely that I would come to Arsenal.
“He has said only good things about Arsenal, which is not surprising because he wanted me to join the club. Even without that I still really wanted to come here.
“He stressed that it was a great club located in a fantastic city. He said I would not regret my decision to move here because of the people I’d be working with and, of course, the fans.”