Alexandre Lacazette Takes to Twitter to Downplay Arsenal Exit Rumours

It must be weird being a footballer and reading the rumours about where your future lies. It's a practice almost exclusively aligned with sport. Could you imagine how Stephen at Poundland would react if the papers were full of reports saying he's eyeing a move to Waitrose?

'The 22-year-old, who earns £7.42 an hour, is looking to secure a big money move to the grocery giants. It's believed to be his dream to stack shelves in the famous green and white of Waitrose'.

The era of social media (combined with the boredom of lockdown right now) means that it's easier to players to read what's written about them in the news. Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette has been doing just that.

The Frenchman has been linked with a move away from the Emirates Stadium, and reports say that the Gunners could offer him as a makeweight in a deal for Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.

On the face of it, that's not a totally implausible deal - it's been speculated that clubs may have to operate through swap deals in the next transfer market because of the financial impact of the coronavirus. Atleti have held a long-term interest in Lacazette too, while Partey would bring much needed physicality to Arsenal's midfield.

Makes sense, right? Well, maybe not.

A French Atletico news account ran reports from Mundo Deportivo that Lacazette has been in contact with international teammate and former Rojiblancos star Antoine Griezmann regarding information about the club.

However, Score Agency (who represent Lacazette) quote tweeted this to say that 'it's not nice to lie to fans of Atletico Madrid'. Lacazette himself then replied to this tweet in French, saying: "Not beautiful at all!"

This was followed by a series of big-nosed emojis, suggesting the information is false (don't you just love the modern discourse around transfers?).

Anyway, it seems at this stage that Lacazette will not be heading to Atletico then.