Reports have it that Arsenal have completed the signing of France striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for a club record £46.5m fee on a five-year deal.
The fee – up to £52.6m with add-ons – will surpass the £42.4m Arsenal paid Real Madrid for Mesut Ozil in 2013.
The 26-year-old who is expected to travel with the club this weekend for two friendly matches in Sydney next week said: “Arsenal are the club that plays the best football in England so I really wanted to come here,” said Lacazette.
Subsequently it will be followed by a match against Bayern Munich in Shanghai the following week.
The player added: “Throughout my childhood and thanks to Arsenal’s former striker Thierry Henry and other French players, I always dreamed of playing for this club so that dream has been fulfilled.
“I like clubs with a history and the fact that the manager has been here for a while shows that it is a stable club. There are quite a few French players at the club which will make it easy to settle in.”
Lacazette, who has won 11 caps for France, was the second-highest scorer in Ligue 1 last season with 28 goals. He netted 129 goals in 275 matches in all competitions for Lyon after breaking into the first team in the 2009-10 campaign.
His league tally last season was bettered by only Paris St-Germain’s Edinson Cavani, with 35.
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