Lyon confirm signing of Alexandre Lacazette from Arsenal on deal until 2025
Alexandre Lacazette has completed his emotional return to Lyon, leaving Arsenal for a three-year deal in France. Lyon holds a special place in the Frenchman's heart having first arrived at the club in 2003 as a starry eyed 12-year-old. He moved to north London in a £53million deal back in 2017 but brought his five-year spell at the Emirates Stadium to an end by running down his contract, allowing him to return home to Lyon on a free. Alexandre Lacazette was mocked up in a cape as he completed a homecoming to re-join Lyon At a press conference held later on Thursday morning, Lacazette posed with a 2025 jersey Lyon is the only club other than Arsenal that Lacazette has played for in his professional career and there has been a sense of inevitability around this return given he has been training with them since choosing not to extend in London. In unveiling their returning striker, Lyon released a 71-second video which shows Lacazette walking into the dressing room to pull on the shirt once more, before walking out onto the pitch at the Groupama Stadium. Lacazette stands fourth in Lyon's all-time scoring charts, having netted 129 goals in 275 matches. Only Fleury Di Nallo, Bernard Lacombe and Serge Chiesa have more goals for Lyon than Lacazette. In a video to confirm his signing, Lyon showed him inside their stadium in the new jersey In a statement, Lyon explained that re-acquiring Lacazette 'has been the club's priority for several months' and that the deal for the 31-year-old 'is perfectly in line with the new strategy now set up within the institution.' Lacazette's time at Arsenal came to a frustrating end, with the club narrowly missing out on a top-four finish and Champions League football. It was a season of personal frustration, too, for the Frenchman, having managed to score just four league goals in 2021-22. Overall there were flashes of his levels during his time in north London, none less important than winning Player of the Year for 2018-19. The French forward struggled in his final year at Arsenal, scoring only four and assisting seven Lacazette wore a big smile as he suited up for his returning press conference to the media He brought the curtain down on his time at the Emirates Stadium with 71 goals in 206 games. Lyon finished a lowly eighth in Ligue 1 last season and will be hoping for significant strides to be made in the next campaign as they chase a return to the Champions League. The club statement added: 'His second arrival, after the return of Rémy Riou and the extension to Maxence Caqueret and Anthony Lopes’ contracts shows the great ambition to breathe new life into a new dynamic around the men’s professional team.'
Romelu Lukaku enters top three of 15 most expensive loan players in history
Romelu Lukaku’s return to Inter Milan makes the Chelsea flop the third-most expensive signing ever to be sent out on loan by short-changed clubs. Here are the top 15 priciest players for whom their next move was a temporary one… 15) Tiemoue Bakayoko (£40m)Most of us got Bakayoko wrong. When he signed for Chelsea from Monaco in summer 2017, just before Danny Drinkwater followed, it was widely expected that the all-action defensive midfielder would be a huge hit in the Premier League. And he made a decent start. But come October when N’Golo Kante picked up an injury, Bakayoko’s shortcomings were thrust into sharp focus. The nadir came in February at Watford. Bakayoko was sent off for a couple of cautions inside 30 minutes and Antonio Conte’s side were beaten 4-1. The midfielder returned a month later against Leicester but received the half-time hook to escape another seemingly inevitable dismissal.
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