Arsenal vs Olympiakos - Lacazette insists he has no desire to leave Arsenal

Posted Thursday, February 27, 2020 by PA

Alexandre Lacazette insists he will not push to leave Arsenal this summer even if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

The France striker has been struggling for form of late and has lost his place to youngster Eddie Nketiah for the last two Premier League games.

He scored off the bench in the recent win over Newcastle before netting the only goal in the 1-0 Europa League round of 32 victory in Olympiacos last week.

They are his only two goals since mid-December and he has been linked with a summer move away from the Emirates Stadium.

But, despite reports he has an agreement with the club that he can leave if they are unable to secure a return to the Champions League, the 28-year-old claims he has no desire to leave.

“I didn’t know about this,” Lacazette replied when asked about the reported exit clause.

“I did not know. Yes, I have a contract with the club so there is no point for me to leave, everybody is happy with me at the club.

“A lot of people can talk. There is always something to say so I don’t really think about this. If the manager, the coach, my team-mates are happy with me then that’s the most important thing.”

While Lacazette’s form has been patchy, 18-year-old winger Bukayo Saka has been impressing as a makeshift left-back.

Saka has already provided 10 assists this season – including one in each of his last three games – and Lacazette believes he has eclipsed the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mason Mount and Mason Greenwood this season.

“He’s really good. I think he’s maybe the best young player in the league,” he said.

“Like I said, he needs to improve in a few things but you can see the quality he has and he’s humble.

“The best thing for him is to be involved. He wants to work, he accepts criticism because he wants to improve.”

Saka is also expected to continue at left-back in the coming weeks with Sead Kolasinac ruled out for an indefinite amount of time with what the club have described as a “significant shoulder injury” suffered during Sunday’s 3-2 win over Everton.

Asked if Kolasinac would play again this season, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta replied: “Hopefully, yes. But I don’t know.

“It’s depending on whether he’s dislocated it and if he needs surgery or not. We will know more this afternoon, hopefully.

“He is seeing the specialist and we will know more – but yes, he was in pain, it’s a difficult area and we are not very positive about it.”

Olympiacos coach Pedro Martins wants his players to take their chances which he admits they did not in the first leg.

Martins told his pre-match press conference: “In [the first leg] we played well in a match full of intensity. Football is all about effectiveness – we didn’t convert our chances, our rivals did. But it was just the first half of the tie.

“As far as I am concerned, the London match is open. We have a good team, quality players and I am confident that we can respond to the challenge.”

Olympiacos defender Ousseynou Ba added: “It’s football. Anything can happen. We will try to make our opportunities count and score. We have nothing to lose now. We will go for it.”