According to reports from The Daily Mail this morning, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool strike target Alexandre Lacazette has revealed he’s been left ‘hurt and disappointed’ by how his contract negotiations were handled during the summer.
The France international was in emphatic form for Lyon last season, bagging 27 goals in Ligue 1 to claim the division’s Player of the Year award and ensure Champions League football at Stade de Gerland.
That saw him linked to a plethora of Premier League clubs during the summer, with the Daily Mail claiming Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool all monitored his progress throughout the 2014/15 campaign.
It also lead to a one-year contract extension with Les Gones, but the 24 year-old has now revealed that he was ‘hurt and disappointed’ by club president Jean Michel Aulas’ decision to publicly reveal details about the negotiations.
In July, Aulas publicly revealed that Lacazette had been offered a €4million salary, which appears to be the cause of the striker’s ill-feeling.
As quoted by The Mail, he has said; “It hurt. I think that is a justified word to use. When you are a youngster at the club, in the town, and you have never really behaved in a nasty way to anyone, to be treated like that, yes, it hurts. I had had my best ever season, I really helped the team to reach the Champions League again.
“Yes, it is his (Aulas’) attitude. When he talks, a lot of fans listen. And when he retells things, seen from his point of view, it makes you think that the player is in the wrong. Yes his behaviour hurt and disappointed me.”
The news certainly suggests friction between the player and Lyon’s board. But now tied down to the French outfit until 2019, Lacazette seems unlikely to leave in the near future without a huge fee involved.
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