Alexandre Lacazette is leaving Arsenal at the end of the month. After five years, 206 appearances across all competitions and 71 goals, the Frenchman's exit is imminent and he's made a significant change on social media to reflect just that.
Despite confirmation of the 31-year-old's departure and subsequent agreement to rejoin former club Lyon on a three-year deal, the striker doesn't officially begin the next chapter in his career until July 1. This is because June 30 is the date when his contract with the north London outfit expires.
With that said, Lacazette has already bid an emotional farewell to the Arsenal fans with whom he forged a strong connection following his big-money move from Lyon in the summer of 2017: "I want to say thank you, a big thank you because there was a lot of expectation from me when I signed, the welcome was amazing for me," he said.
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"I felt straight away comfortable to play for the team and during my five years it’s been amazing with the fans in the stadium. Thank you for the song as well, I never talked about it, but it really touched me a lot and, a big thank you for everything.
"I’ll keep in contact with my team-mates, with the coaches, with the club. I supported Arsenal since I was young, so obviously I’m going to keep supporting them. I know I will come back to the stadium as well. "Like we say, 'Once a Gunner, always a Gunner.'"
So with the announcement of his exit and a goodbye message taken care of right at the beginning of June, the next stage of Lacazette's Arsenal exit was to find a new club ahead of the 2022/23 season. As mentioned above, that was confirmed on Thursday with him returning to Lyon.
"I want to thank the president, Vincent and Bruno, but above all for the welcome and the love you have shown me in recent weeks," he said at his unveiling. "It was obvious to me. Despite the absence of European football, the project was more important than anything else. I felt needed in the locker room and on the pitch in this project so it was the best decision.
"It's exciting to come back. I can't wait to start the season. I have progressed in my leadership abilities; I've gained experience. It's in the back of my head the top ranking of scorers in OL's history, but it's not the priority. Above all, I want to help the club get back to the top of the league."
And now the final stage of Lacazette's Arsenal exit is complete following significant changes on his Instagram profile page as the images below highlight that he's changed the main image and the details of the club he will be playing for from July 1, 2022.
Although Lacazette wasn't amongst the goals too often for the Gunners last season, his departure will create two massive voids that Mikel Arteta will need to fill this summer. Of course, the main priority is to sign a new striker amid links to Gabriel Jesus, Tammy Abraham and Gianluca Scamacca.
In addition, the Spaniard must appoint a new permanent captain after Lacazette - albeit in the short-term - had taken over the armband from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who had been stripped of the duties last November as a punishment for another disciplinary issue.
The leading candidate to replace Lacazette appears to be Kieran Tierney with Arteta already hinting that the Scotland international is next in line. However, the left-back's worrying injury record does raise concerns as to if he would be the ideal choice which could open the door for Martin Odegaard who captained the side during the final eight games of last season.
