Reports: Alexandre Lacazette set to convince £100m superstar to join Arsenal 

What's the story?

Alexandre Lacazette seems to be effective on more than one front for Arsenal. According to The Telegraph, the French striker has revealed that he will try to persuade none other than Atletico Madrid superstar frontman Antoine Griezmann to join Arsenal next summer.

Antoine Griezmann has been a Manchester United transfer target for quite a while now and he came close to signing for the Red Devils. But Atletico Madrid's transfer ban led to the 25-year-old vowing to stay put and not add to the misery of the La Liga outfit.

In case you didn't know...

Alexandre Lacazette and Antoine Griezmann are close friends and even spent a large chunk of the summer break holidaying together in America.

In an interview with Match of the Day magazine, Lacazette revealed, "Yeah he is my best mate, we are very good friends and have lots of fun."

"Our nicknames for each other are Griezzy and Lacaz. If Griezzy visits me in London, I'm going to ask him to sign for Arsenal!"

The heart of the matter

Arsenal have a lot of contract issues that need to be resolved at the moment. Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are out of contract next summer and the Gunners could find themselves lacking creative outlets up front.

They were able to keep hold of Sanchez but the Chilean had made it clear that he wants to move and play in the Champions League. For this reason, it is highly unlikely that Sanchez will sign a new deal.

Manchester United are expected to revive their interest in Griezmann next summer after nearly signing him this summer. However, with the arrival of Diego Costa at Atletico Madrid, Griezmann can now leave the club without feeling guilty of having abandoned the club that made him the player he is today.

Antoine Griezmann is tied by contract to Atletico until 2022.

Very recently, Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville sang praises of Griezmann and even tagged him as the one player who he'd love to see at United.

Paul Pogba, who had a role to play to orchestrating Lukaku's move to United, is also close to Griezmann and Lacazette will need to outsmart the Manchester United showman who has prior experience in the field.

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Author's Take

Alexandre Lacazette can motivate Griezmann to join Arsenal. But Arsenal will have to battle Manchester United to sign Griezmann. The Red Devils will be ready to break the bank for Griezmann and Arsenal have a history of being miserly in the market which has seen them miss out on several players. On top of that, Manchester United have got off to a flier this season and the same can't be said of Arsenal.

But that being said, the decision rests with Griezmann and you can never know what'll happen.