Arsenal Transfer News: Latest Alexandre Lacazette and Nacho Monreal Rumours

Arsenal's search for a striker could end with Lyon's pacy and prolific hitman, Alexandre Lacazette. The Gunners have been given the all-clear to sign Lacazette but may face a fight to keep left-back Nacho Monreal.

Actually, the bigger scrap might involve convincing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to part with €60 million. That's what it will reportedly take for Lyon to sell their top scorer.

The Ligue 1 club's manager, Hubert Fournier, made the suggestion to French newspaper L'Equipe (h/t Uche Amako of the Daily Express): "Of course, if a €50-60 million (£35-42 million) bid was tabled, I will no doubt have to prepare for his exit and wish him good luck, but I really feel like he wants to stay."

Those numbers are more than a little daunting, but they needn't rule out a deal. Sport Witness' Tom Coast even suggested there might be some wiggle room in negotiations: "But if the manager is so clear he'd prepare for the player's exit at €50 million, then what happens at €40 million? That's 'just' £28 million, and things start to become rather tempting."

The Lacazette-to-Arsenal buzz kicked into overdrive recently when the player seemed to drop a hint via social media about his desire to move to north London. He liked a tweeted link to a story from French publication MaxiFoot suggesting the Gunners were ready to make a bid (h/t Sport Witness).

Lacazette is definitely an interesting target for Arsenal. A one-time attacking midfielder while ex-Wenger player Remi Garde was in charge at Lyon, he's steadily made a highly successful transition to central striker.

It's a switch Wenger would be proud of. He engineered similar transitions from former wingers Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie. Both became prolific once they moved through the middle.

Lacazette has certainly followed a similar path. He scored 31 times in all competitions for Lyon last season, according to WhoScored.com.

In fact, B/R's Ligue 1 analyst Jonathan Johnson recently suggested Lacazette could be another Henry in the making:

The 24-year-old No. 10 has the pace and varied movement the Gunners currently miss at the position. Target man Olivier Giroud is more static. While his link play is exceptional, Giroud is never going to stretch defences.

Danny Welbeck might, but he lacks guile and quality as a finisher. Wenger recently challenged the former Manchester United wide forward to score more goals, via Sky Sports: "I expect him to develop as a central striker. Last year most of the time he played wide, but if he adds goals to what he creates then he can be a very dangerous striker as well."

Wenger has also occasionally moved wide men Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez through the middle. But if he wants the balance a true centre-forward can provide while still retaining the fluidity that's key to Arsenal's expansive combination game, Lacazette might be too good to resist.

Monreal Nearing Move to Athletic Bilbao

One move Wenger is sure to want to resist is the sale of Nacho Monreal. But the veteran Basque defender is reportedly close to joining La Liga side Athletic Bilbao.

The rumour came from Spanish publication AS (h/t Metro's Paul Gorst): "The report claims that Monreal will set the La Liga side back around £7 million, and talks are ongoing between the two clubs, despite the ex-Malaga man currently being with the rest of the squad in Singapore."

This seems rather fanciful stuff. El Confidencial journalist Kike Marin even tweeted something of a rebuttal to the whole idea:

Of course, Marin's words may not provide much assurance about Monreal's future after Arsenal were linked with a bid for Napoli's Algerian left-back, Faouzi Ghoulam. Italian outlet Mediaset (h/t talkSPORT) suggested the Gunners have offered "around £10 million" for the defender who would compensate for Monreal's return to Spain.

Monreal's exit would rate as a blow for the Gunners, considering his improvement over the last two seasons. He originally arrived at the club on the final day of the January transfer window in 2013.

After a slow start and rather tepid fanfare, Monreal got used to the pace of the Premier League. He's rotated with Englishman Kieran Gibbs but has become Wenger's go-to full-back for big games.

Monreal netted a crucial goal to help Arsenal score their first win over Manchester United at Old Trafford since September 2006. His strike opened the scoring in a 2-1 win in last season's FA Cup quarter-final. The campaign ended with the Gunners retaining the trophy.

Monreal has added a lot to his game going forward, and while he's still slow on the turn, his defensive chops have also improved, particularly in the air. Arsenal's defence was very settled toward the end of last season, and Monreal was a major reason why.

At the moment, Wenger's whole squad appears settled and well-stocked. He might shake things up for the right kind of quality player, but it remains to be seen if the Gunners chief views Lacazette that way.

It's certainly easier to believe Wenger won't want to lose any of his current key players.