ALEXANDRE THE WAIT
Legend Pires tells fans: £52m man will be a star but he’ll need time to adapt to English game
ROBERT PIRES has backed new striker Alexandre Lacazette to be a hit at Arsenal – but warned not to expect too much too soon.
Pires believes he will take time to get used to the Premier League – and the Gunners legend speaks from experience.
Like Lacazette, who boss Arsene Wenger signed from Lyon, Pires (right) spent his entire career in France before joining Arsenal.
And Pires, a member of the Gunners’ famous ‘Invincibles’, admitted it took him around seven months to get to grips with English football after initially fearing he would not be able to hack it.
Lacazette, 26, will face a Premier League side for the first time since his £52million move to the Emirates in today’s lunchtime friendly with Chelsea.
Pires said: “I do think Lacazette will be a success.
“He is a good striker who has scored a lot of goals with Lyon. Of course it will be difficult in the beginning because when you play in France and move to England it is not the same, it is very aggressive.
“Maybe he will need time to adapt, but everyone around him is important, especially the French connection.
“I remember my first game at Sunderland.
“Arsene said, ‘Robert, I know you are a bit upset because you want to play, but I prefer it if you are on the bench and you can watch the game, the fight and the tempo’. After 20 minutes sat on the bench I said to myself ‘what are you doing here?’ because it was very, very difficult.
“I remember one tackle from Patrick Vieira and I thought this football wasn’t for me.
“It was difficult and it is about how you adapt. Some people say that it is the same everywhere. It certainly is not.
“If you play in France, Spain or Italy it is not the same football, especially when you play in England. Every game is very difficult.
“To make the adaption, to find the rhythm and the tempo, for me it took six or seven months. It was very tough. For me it was the aggression and intensity. Because I came from France, it was heavy and that is why it is difficult in the Premier League.”
Lacazette’s club record arrival has cast doubt over the future of fellow France forward Olivier Giroud.
But, speaking at the Star Sixes tournament at the O2, Pires added: “I believe in Giroud as he loves to fight, fight the good fight – and not for himself, but for the team. “If you want to win the title you need everybody and Arsenal need Olivier Giroud.”