How much is the French striker worth…?
While we cannot confirm that the Alexandre Lacazette to Liverpool rumour which keeps popping up is anything more than speculation, we’d absolutely love him at Anfield in time for the 2015/16 campaign, and here’s five reasons why.
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1) Goals, goals, goals…
With 20 goals in 21 Ligue 1 matches this term, only two players in Europe have bagged more top flight strikes than Lacazette this term. And there’s little or no shame in being third placed behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi… He notched 22 in all competitions last season, which is all the more impressive considering he often played from the left, but in 2014/15, he’s gone to an entirely different level. In Daniel Sturridge’s absence, Steven Gerrard is our top scorer this term with nine, most of which were from penalties or free-kicks. Our early season defensive mishaps were most discussed in the media, but our lack of natural finishers has been just as problematic. If we’d had a Lacazette on the pitch versus Chelsea or Bolton for example, we’d likely have picked up two wins instead of two draws.
2) We cannot afford for a potential Daniel Sturridge injury to ruin another season…
Without Sturridge, we’ve had no rapid centre-forward all season, and until we found the 3-4-3, it almost cost Brendan Rodgers his job. While we’ll all be praying the English forward stays fit when he makes his long awaited return from injury, history shows us that a future fitness problem is possible. Even if we don’t plan on deploying them together, we simply must buy a forward capable of directly replacing, or potentially partnering, Sturridge – and Lacazette has all the characteristics to do so.
3) Age, attributes and versatility…
Lacazette ticks all of FSG and Brendan Rodgers’ boxes. He’s 23-years-old, is yet to enter his prime, can play either as a central striker or cutting in from the wing, is technically apt, and perhaps more importantly – is lightning fast. Liverpool’s entire on-field recipe for success is based around harrying the opposition when they’re in possession, and playing quick, incisive football on the turnover.
4) Sadly, it looks like the Mario Balotelli gamble hasn’t paid off…
We don’t want to write off the Italian, and we were as excited as anybody when he arrived in the summer, but Brendan Rodgers’ consistent comments tell of a striker who simply doesn’t suit our style of football. While this isn’t necessarily Balotelli’s fault, it does suggest he’ll be replaced at the nearest opportunity – for the good of the player and Liverpool. If he is sold in the summer, a new striker will obviously be an absolute priority, considering Rickie Lambert’s age and immobility, and Fabio Borini’s lack of top quality.
5) Having missed out on Diego Costa and Alexis Sanchez, we need to learn our lesson…
In summer 2013, we targeted a relatively unknown Diego Costa, but couldn’t seal a transfer. He went on to win Atletico Madrid La Liga, scoring 27 times, earning a blockbuster move to Chelsea, for whom he’s scoring goals for fun. Costa is now an enemy of the Kop, as the recent song about him proves, but we’ll be lying if we claimed we wouldn’t take him in a heartbeat… Like Costa did, Lacazette has ‘blown-up’ this season, and the longer we wait to make an offer, the more likely a rival will be able to trump us financially to secure his services. The Alexis Sanchez situation is different, as the player simply fancied living in London – but his start to Arsenal life shows how much it would hurt to watch Lacazette tearing up English defences for a Premier League rival.
