Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger is reportedly set to miss one of his top targets this summer, Alexandre Lacazette, as the Lyon striker recently expressed his "happiness" to stay with the Ligue 1 outfit moving forward.
The 25-year-old French forward had scored a hat trick during Lyon's season-opening 3-0 win over last term's Ligue 2 champions AS Nancy at the Stade Marcel Picot on Sunday. He immediately told reporters after the match that he is "happy" where he is and would like to score 100 goals for the squad this season.
"I am happy here. I would like to reach 100 goals in Ligue 1," Lacazette said, as per The Sun. "We are very happy because the first match against a promoted team is always perilous. This is a very good week."
"Congratulations to (coach) Bruno (Genesio), for his talk has borne fruit. We are very happy and will enjoy tonight but we must keep our feet on the ground this season," he added.
Lacazette, who is playing his eighth season for the Lyon residents this term, has been one of the most dominant goalscorers in the French top flight in the past couple of years.
He placed second to former Paris Saint-Germain and now Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimović last season with 21 goals in 34 contests. The season before that, he was the league's top goalscorer with 27 goals in 33 games.
He is expected to dominate once more this time around and his team is also one of the favorites to win the Ligue 1 title at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, Wenger's Gunners lost their opening game against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool XI, 3-4, at the Emirates Stadium also last Sunday.
It was evident during the match that Wenger is lacking offensive options with main striker Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck not around, but the team has more problems on defense as a host of central defenders is also unavailable at the moment because of injuries.
Wenger's initial £29 million offer for Lacazette was rejected by Lyon as Les Gones requires a fee of £40 million to move the Frenchman.
Caught Offside also noted that the French club no longer has "intention of selling their star striker" after earning £21 million from the sale of center back Samuel Umtiti to Barcelona.
