Arsenal want 22yo Noa Lang as they prepare for life without Alexandre Lacazette | OneFootball

Arsenal are apparently interested in signing Club Brugge’s Dutch forward Noa Lang as they get ready for life without Alexandre Lacazette.

Noa LANG 10 – Brugge – Achraf Hakimi 2 – PSG – FOOTBALL : Brugge vs Paris Saint Germain – Ligue des Champions – Paris – 15/09/2021 FedericoPestellini/Panoramic

Arsenal are in the market for a new forward and, with Alexandre Lacazette running down his contract, Noa Lang is the latest name to be linked with the club.

Noa Lang is also a new name to be linked with Arsenal, so that’s nice.

The Club Brugge forward is 22, so right in the Mikel Arteta sweet-spot in terms of age.

Lang is valued at around £20m, rocketing from just £4m a little under a year ago after a season that saw him score 17 and assist 11 in 38 games and earn a permanent move from Ajax to Club Brugge, where he had spent the season on loan.

This season, Lang already has four goals and four assists in 10 games.

He also has four yellow cards (he picked up a total of six last year).

As Lang only signed for Club Brugge this summer, he is under contract until 2025.

Mainly playing on the left wing, interest in Lang could hint at more of a role for Folarin Balogun when Lacazette leaves.

Quite what it would mean for Gabriel Martinelli is anyone’s guess.

Alexandre Lacazette at Arsenal – success or failure?

Brighton and Hove Albion v Arsenal – Premier League – AMEX Stadium Arsenal s Alexandre Lacazette Copyright: Markx Pain

As I was doing some reading around a previous article I saw one that claimed, “Lacazette has failed to impress during his time at the Emirates Stadium,” and I thought to myself, ‘has he really?’

I think it’s fair to say that Lacazette has not turned into the uber-striker we all thought Arsenal were signing when they coughed up £47.7m for the forward in 2017, but can you really say that he has failed to impress during his time in London?

The real measure of a forward is, of course, in the goals that he scores (and assists he creates) and Lacazette has 66 goals, along with 28 assists before Arsenal travel to Burnley, in 172 games.

That works out as a goal or assist every 1.83 games. To compare, at Lyon, Lacazette’s overall rate was 1.59, so better, but not by much. At the same rate, Lacazette would have 108 goals and assists at Arsenal instead of the 94 he has now.

To compare, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Arsenal rate is 1.39, but he also averages 79 minutes per game while Laca gets 65.

In terms of just goals, Lacazette has actually scored at a higher rate at Arsenal than he did at Lyon – 2.606 vs 2.131, so if his rate at Lyon justified Arsenal paying £47.7m for him, and he’s scored at a higher rate at Arsenal, it’s hard to see how you can make the argument that he has ‘failed to impress’.

Lacazette might have ‘failed to impress as much as I expected him to,’ but that’s a very different thing indeed…