Alexandre Lacazette's Arrival Has Caused Some Problems For Arsenal's Squad

Signing a top class, free scoring centre-forward who is approaching his prime is rarely seen as a bad thing and, sure enough, Arsenal fans are resoundingly delighted with the arrival of French international striker Alexandre Lacazette.

The former Lyon striker has become the Gunners most expensive ever player, costing a reported £52 million. However, what Lacazette's arrival at the Emirates stadium now means is that Arsene Wenger's squad has now reached its limit of 17 non-home grown players.

At the end of the summer transfer window, every club in the top flight must submit a squad of 25 players, 17 of which can be non-home grown, to the Premier League.

A home grown player doesn't necessarily need to be British, but must have been registered with any Football Association affiliated club for three entire seasons or 36 months before his 21st birthday.

The likes of Jack Wilshere, Callum Chambers and Wojciech Szczesny will return to Arsenal this summer, following loan spells away from the club, last season, meaning Arsene Wenger's squad needs trimming before he can register his finalised 25 on 31st August.

Jack Wilshere

Wilshere could well be facing his swansong with the Gunners, having spent last season on loan at Bournemouth. Image: PA

Joel Campbell, David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy and last summer's arrival Lucas Perez are all being earmarked for moves away from the Emirates in order to reduce the Gunners' quota of non-home grown talent, while the futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil still remain up in the air, with neither player having signed a new deal at the club, ahead of the contracts expiring next summer.

Perez

Lucas Perez could be set for the Arsenal exit door only one season after arriving at the Emirates stadium. Image: PA

In addition to this, Lacazette's arrival essentially means Arsenal cannot proceed with their pursuit of Riyad Mahrez or Thomas Lemar until they offload players, as the Algerian and French wingers would take the club above the limit of 17 non-home grown players.

It could be a busy few weeks for Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal board.

(H/T 101 Great Goals

Topics: Football, Arsenal, Alexandre Lacazette

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

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