Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger ‘to shatter transfer record with £50m Alexandre Lacazette swoop with deal set to be completed this weekend’. The French striker is set to snub a potential January move to Atletico Madrid to sign on the dotted line for Arsene Wenger’s men. The deal will smash the current highest fee the Gunners have paid out. Mesut Ozil joined the club back in 2013 for £42.5m from Real Madrid. French newspaper L’Equipe are reporting that the 26-year-old has been swayed by Wenger to take up the challenge of playing in the Premier League.

And BBC Sport are saying that the Gunners are “close to completing the Lacazette deal”, and that a fee has been agreed and he just has to “have medical and finalise terms”. But Lyon are desperate to find a replacement BEFORE closing the finer details of any move. The French club’s president has previously admitted to receiving a “very nice” over from Arsenal for the striker. Earlier this week Arsenal’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis revealed the Gunners will target quality not quantity this summer. His Lyon counterpart Jean-Michel Aulas confirmed that talks were ongoing between the two parties. BBC Sport’s David Ornstein says the deal is close to being done with both sides putting the finishing touches on the fee.

Ornstein reports that the France international will undergo a medical and thrash out a contract when the two clubs come to an agreement. Lacazette is hot property after bagging 37 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions last term. He has played over 250 matches across all competitions for Lyon since 2010, scoring over 100 goals. In 2014–15 he was Ligue 1’s top scorer with 27 goals in 33 games, and also the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year. From a Guadeloupean family, Lacazette started playing football at the age of 7 in his local club Elan Sportif in the 8th arrondissement of Lyon.