Lacazette will make Arsenal debut in Sydney, Wenger confirms

Arsenal’s most expensive signing, Alexandre Lacazette, will make his debut in Sydney this week with manager Arsene Wenger confirming the French striker will play in both matches against Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers.

Lacazette, who last week signed for a club record fee of £52.7 million (A$90 million) from Lyon, was among the 25-man Arsenal squad to arrive in Sydney this morning.

They will take on A-League champions the Sky Blues at ANZ Stadium on Thursday before facing cross-town rival the Wanderers at the same venue on Saturday (both matches live and exclusive on SBS VICELAND).

Speaking at a news conference in Sydney, as Arsenal prepare to begin their pre-season tour, Wenger confirmed Lacazette will make his first outing for the club in the Harbour City.

"Lacazette will make his debut here, yes," Wenger said on Tuesday.

"On Thursday night he will play a part in the game and in the other game as well. He will play in both games."





The French international striker is joined in Sydney by fellow France forward Olivier Giroud, who has been linked with a move away from The Emirates this summer.

With Lacazette coming off the back of a blistering campaign for Lyon, scoring 37 goals in all competitions last season, many are left wondering what implications his signing will have on Giroud's place in Arsenal's first team.
Wenger, who says he'll be trialling different systems during the two clashes in Sydney, said he had yet to decide who would lead the Arsenal attack next season.  

"I don't know yet," he said.

"But it is always the same problem - when you have one striker people always ask you: 'why don't you buy another one'. When you have two or three they say: 'but they will be unhappy because there is too much competition'.

"That's part of the job. We have chosen a competitive job, that means the players have to accept competition and my decisions as well unfortunately."

The Gunners’ other summer signing, Bosnia-Herzegovina international Sead Kolasinac, is also part of the travelling squad along with other stars including Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny.

The big absences are, as expected, wantaway Chile international forward Alexis Sanchez and German defender Shkodran Mustafi, who are taking a break after facing off in last week’s 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup final.
After the two-match series in Sydney, Arsenal will continue their pre-season tour embarking to China where they will take on Bayern Munich in Shanghai and Chelsea in Beijing.


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3 min read
Published 11 July 2017 1:20pm
By Angela Habashy

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