Chelsea have been linked with Olympique Lyonnais forward Alex Lacazette, with the Pensioners believed to be considering a swap deal which would see Loic Remy move back to Ligue 1.
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It would be futile to compare the seasons enjoyed by Lacazette and Remy. While the latter has won the Premier League crown with the Blues—and scored some valuable goals along the way—he hasn’t featured nearly as much as the OL man and has thus made a much less significant impact to his club’s campaign.
However, if Lacazette were to move to Chelsea, would it be as a backup to Diego Costa—as Remy and Drogba have been this season—or is there a case to make that he should replace the Spaniard as Jose Mourinho’s go-to striker.
His goal-to-game ratio certainly suggests that Lacazette could do more than just be an option from the bench.
He has found the net 27 times in only 31 starts so far this season. Even allowing for the Premier League’s relative strength over Ligue 1, that’s 0.9 goals per game, comparable with Costa’s 0.79 per game (with 19 goals in 24 outings).
Similarly, while Costa has gone off the boil of the last few months—he has scored only three goals since the middle of January—Lacazette has scored consistently throughout the campaign.
23-year-old Lacazette is also younger than Costa, and he doesn’t have either the forward’s disciplinary or fitness problems.
He is also versatile—able to lead the line or play anywhere across the front three.
He has also contributed more assists than Costa this season, achieved a better pass-success rate and completes more successful dribbles-per-game than the Atletico Madrid man.
There is certainly enough about Lacazette’s game to suggest that he would be able to compete with Costa for a starting berth.