Arsenal appear to be closing in on a signing Alexandre Lacazette.

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The curse

Lyon’s president has already admitted that a deal is under discussion, so if Lacazette were to arrive and Lucas Perez, as seems likely, departs, it would seem only right that Arsenal hand him the number 9 shirt.

He currently wears 10 at Lyon, but that’s Jack Wilshere’s and if he goes, the 10 should only go to Ozil. What if he goes? Shut up.

Arsène Wenger has now managed 10 players wearing the shirt for the Gunners and all have, in one way or another, seen their Arsenal careers end in misery for themselves, the fans, or usually both.

Harsh? Well, not really.

31 goals in 82 appearances look good on the face of things, but Podolski never did as much as he was expected to in London. The idea of using him as a centre-forward was scrapped just 64 minutes into his debut – an error that can probably be put down to the scouting department.

The German had far too many shortcomings – excellently outlined and summarised by Michael Keshani a year ago – and never cut it for the Gunners.

Podolski was the 9th player to wear number nine at Arsenal under Arsène Wenger, and the 9th to endure an ill-fated Arsenal career.

Lucas Perez was the 10th and look how that worked out for him.

But what about the rest? Let’s have a look…

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