Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Alexandre Lacazette will make his debut for Arsenal on Thursday evening against Sydney.
The Gunners boss, speaking for the first time publicly about Lacazette since his arrival, revealed that the 26-year-old would be making his first appearance for the club during their pre-season friendly fixture in Australia this week.
Wenger was quoted on Arsenal’s official website speaking about the squad’s newest addition after the team arrived in Australia yesterday.
The French manager said: “Lacazette will make his debut here, yes, on Thursday night he will certainly play a part in the game and in the other game as well.
“In the two games he will take part.”
In addition to Lacazette’s debut, new defender Sead Kolasinac will also be making his first appearance in an Arsenal jersey, according to Arsene Wenger.
The manager, who extended his reign of the club for a further two years, told the official website that the pre-season fixtures gave him a chance to trial the new signings: “I believe that both of the new signings can integrate well into the team.
“One is a defender who can play on the flank and centrally, and one is a striker with a very good goalscoring record, so I believe that they are great additions to the team. It’s a good opportunity as well to have a first look at how well and how quickly they will integrate with the way we want to play.”
While Lacazette and Kolasinac joined the squad on their pre-season tour, their were a number of noted absentees.
Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson and Wojciech Szczesny were all missing from the squad who jetted off across to Australia yesterday, which sparked rumours of departures from the Emirates.
Alexis Sanchez, who has been strongly linked with a move to Premier League rivals Manchester City, was also left out of the squad, but is said to have been given a break from Wenger after he competed in the Confederations Cup with international club Chile.
Surprisingly, goalkeeper David Ospina and forward Olivier Giroud had seats on the plane to travel across the world, despite their futures with Arsenal being up in the air over recent weeks.