Alexandre Lacazette and Olympique Lyon have reached an agreement for the French striker to return to the club where his career first took flight when his contract with Arsenal officially expires at the end of the month, as reported by Adam Crafton for The Athletic.
Lacazette earned his place in the first-team squad at Lyon back in 2009. Eight years later, he became a part of what would later turn out to have been the last project of the 22-year-long reign of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, for close to £50 million. Interestingly enough, Lacazette’s arrival coincides with the inability of the Gunners to qualify for the Champions League, and the 31-year-old never played for the Premier League side in UEFA’s elite club competition.
Nonetheless, Lacazette wore the Arsenal shirt on 206 occasions in all competitions, scoring 71 goals and assisting his teammates 36 times. His role wasn’t always as prominent as he would have liked, but the disciplinary issues with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his subsequent departure to Barcelona in January this year threw Lacazette into the spotlight, as it turned out, for the last time in an Arsenal shirt. His performances helped the team return to playing European football as they narrowly missed out on top four in the Premier League in 2021/22, and his contribution to the 2020 FA Cup triumph was notable as well.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, as well as general manager Vincent Ponsot, made no secret of their wish to bring their academy graduate back to the Ligue 1 club earlier this season, and Lacazette himself refused to rule it out.
It seems it has been done; Lacazette is returning to Lyon as a free agent this summer.
