Coquelin...Arsenal's soft power in Lacazette signing

CAIRO – 7 July 2017: Arsenal finally signed their long term target, Alexander Lacazette, on Wednesday. Francis Coquelin, Arsenal midfielder, played a great role in convincing his teammate in the France national team to sign for Arsenal.

“We’ve had a lot of contact over the last few years and even more over the last few weeks, of course, since it became increasingly likely that I would come to Arsenal,” Lacazette told the Arsenal website.

Lacazette added, “He has said only good things about Arsenal, which is not surprising, because he wanted me to join the club. Even without that, I still really wanted to come here.”

Coquelin talked with Lacazette about Arsenal and London, and Lacazette said, “He stressed that it was a great club located in a fantastic city. He said I would not regret my decision to move here because of the people I’d be working with and, of course, the fans.”

Lacazette and Coquelin played together with the France national team in the 2010 UEFA European U19 Championship and the 2011 FIFA U20 World Cup.