WENGER’S NEW BOY SET FOR HOME DEBUT
London, July 28: Alexandre Lacazette will make his first appearance in front of Arsenal’s home crowd this weekend as the Gunners step up their pre-season preparations in the Emirates Cup.
Arsene Wenger splashed out a club record £52 million ($68 million) to sign Lacazette from Lyon this month and the France striker is expected to get his first taste of the Emirates Stadium when Arsenal face Benfica on Saturday.
With Arsenal’s Premier League campaign getting underway against Leicester on August 11 after next week’s Community Shield clash with Chelsea, Lacazette has an opportunity to make a good initial impression on the Gunners faithful in the fourteam friendly tournament.
Aside from a desire to justify Wenger’s hefty investment, Lacazette’s Emirates debut will carry extra significance for the 26-year-old, who grew up admiring Arsenal’s legendary ‘Invincibles’.
Lacazette’s arrival has given fresh hope to Arsenal supporters hoping their team can build on an unexpectedly upbeat end to a traumatic season.
Although Alexis Sanchez is not scheduled to return to training until next week following his Confederations Cup duty with Chile, Wenger is sure to face questions about the Arsenal forward, who has only one year left on his contract amid talk he is trying to engineer a move to Paris Saint Germain or Manchester City.
Spanish side Sevilla and German outfit Leipzig, featuring Liverpool target Naby Keita, face off in Saturday’s other fixture at the Emirates.