Francis Coquelin has heaped praise upon his compatriot following a club-record move to sign for Arsenal this month, saying that Lacazette is both a real asset and a goalscoring machine.

Coquelin, 26, took time to praise new arrival Lacazette, whom he won the u19 European Championships with in 2010 with France at youth level.

I’ve known him for a very long time,” the midfielder was quoted as saying by the club’s official website.

We played together for the youth national team so I know him very well. I’m really happy he’s come to the club. He’s a real asset and a goalscoring machine.

coquelin laca
French forward Alexandre Lacazette (C) celebrates with team-mates midfielder Francis Coquelin (L) and forward Yannis Tafer after scoring against Mexico during the FIFA 2011 Under-20 World Cup third place football match in Bogota on August 20, 2011. (Picture source: Vanderlei Almeida / AFP / Getty Images)

“He scored 37 goals in all competition last season, so he’s shown that he’s a very, very good goalscorer. I think he’s the fourth all-time leading goalscorer for Lyon, after scoring about 130 goals for the club. I’m really happy to have him in the team,” he continued.

Questions have been asked about Lacazette’s suitability to the Premier League and whether he’ll settle in quickly enough to make a notable impact from the offset. Coquelin’s comments show confidence in his ability to do just that.

He can do pretty much everything because he’s someone who likes to get on the ball too. He likes to run in behind the defences that’s something he’s good at and, like I said, he’s a goalscorer. Even in Europe, it’s very difficult to find someone who can score 25 or 30 goals. If he can do that, it will be very special for the club and for the team.

I’ve never seen someone coming on and scoring so many goals. I’ve seen him come on and score a hat-trick in 20 minutes. He shows that he doesn’t joke in front of the goal, he does the business and that’s what we need.

Coquelin isn’t the only one who is excited by the arrival of Lacazette at Arsenal. Mesut OZil has spoken about playing with the ‘ice cold’ forward. Theo Walcott tried to offer a compliment as well but his comparison to Jermain Defoe simply showed a lack of understanding of both Defoe’s limitations and selfishness in comparison to Lacazette, damning the Frenchman with faint praise.