‘Alexandre Lacazette Will Need Time To Settle At Arsenal’- Gunners Legend Says

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‘Alexandre Lacazette Will Need Time To Settle At Arsenal’- Gunners Legend Says

Arsenal fans may not see the best of club record signing Alexandre Lacazette for months, says former Gunners midfielder Robert Pires.

Pires said it took him more than six months to settle after his 2000 move.

His fellow Frenchman Lacazette, a 26-year-old striker, cost the Gunners £46.5m from Lyon after scoring 28 goals in Ligue 1 last season.

“I think he’ll be a success. But maybe he will need time to adapt,” Pires, who was at Arsenal for six years, said.

Lacazette scored on his first Arsenal appearance in a pre-season game against Sydney FC last week, and is likely to face Chelsea in Beijing on Saturday.

But former France international Pires – who also made the direct move from Ligue 1 to the Premier League – believes it will take time for Lacazette to get used to English football.

“He is a good striker who has scored a lot of goals with Lyon. Of course it will be very 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 for the adaptation but everyone around him is very important, especially the French connection.

“But 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.”