Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas has said that Arsenal will need to pay £57 million for striker Alexandre Lacazette, according to L’Equipe.
The French media outlet revealed that the chairman doesn’t want to give up the 26-year-old forward easily – or cheaply – amid interest from Arsenal and Atletico Madrid.
Aulas revealed that the La Liga club have already offered a bid of £47 million, plus £10 million in add-ons, and that Wenger will need to offer the same.
Aulas claims he is no hurry to sell Lacazette and can always wait until January 2018 when the Spanish club’s transfer ban is lifted.
The chairman said that despite meeting Wenger during England’s 3-2 loss against France earlier in June he hadn’t thought of the north London club as a destination for Lacazette because of the offer from Atletico.
This comes after it was reported by RMC Sport that Arsenal were in advanced talks over Lacazette after they submitted a £44million bid.
The striker had another stunning season with Lyon during the club’s 2016/17 campaign and finished the second highest scorer in Ligue 1.
Lacazette scored an impressive 28 goals in just 30 Ligue 1 games for the club which he’s been at since 2009.
The centre-forward has grown through the ranks at Lyon and has now become one of the most prominent and key players in the squad.
Wenger needs to add to his squad this summer after a disappointing 2016/17 campaign left them fifth in the table.
A report in the Mirror said that Lacazette was one of Wenger’s top three summer transfer targets.