Arsenal have shelved talks over striker Alexandre Lacazette’s future until the end of the season.
Lacazette is into the final six months of his current deal and now free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with overseas clubs.
Arsenal are aware of that, but they are happy to wait until the summer to discuss the Frenchman’s future as they focus on qualifying for the Champions League this season.
The Gunners are back in action tonight when they host Wolves and a win will take them to within one point of Manchester United in fourth.
Lacazette is expected to start and skipper the side, and the 30-year-old has become a central figure since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy in December.
“There is a chance [Lacazette signs a new deal], but we have decisions to make on three or four players in regards to the summer,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
“Starting those conversations right now, I don’t think is the right way. We have spoken to all the players, what to expect, they freedom that they have because the contracts allow them to make any decisions, and with our position there.
“That’s what we are going to do. At the end of the season, we will sit down and decide what’s the best for all the parties.”
Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny and striker Eddie Nketiah are in the same boat as Lacazette, with the pair’s contracts also expiring this summer.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has expressed his desire to bring Lacazette back to the club and Arteta has admitted he cannot stop those players who are out of contract in the summer from talking to other teams.
“I cannot say that, because they are free to do that if they want to,” he added. “We have the capacity to start negotiating a contract right now or in the summer, we have decided to wait until the summer.
“We have clarity [then] where we are, how we are going to be there, who is doing what and that’s the decision that we have made.”
Arsenal will be keen to make the most of Tottenham’s slip-up last night when they face Wolves.
Spurs lost to Burnley and are currently three points behind Arsenal in eighth, while the Gunners also have a game in hand on them.
Arsenal are currently sat sixth in the Premier League, but a win tonight would see them move up to fifth, with three games in hand on United.
“I think it will be a bit of a rollercoaster,” Arteta said. “There will be moments when a team opens up a bit of a gap, then it catches up.
“You see the fixtures we all have to play and they are extremely tricky.”
