Alexandre Lacazette has cited a Thierry Henry pep talk as a key factor behind his improvement as a player.

• Henry spoke with Lacazette in 2013
• The talk inspired Lacazette to work harder to improve himself

Henry is a legendary figure in France and a role model for many young strikers. Several “new Henrys” have come and gone. His word has a lot of weight to it.

So when Henry told Lacazette that he needed to fix up, he listened. The former was on tour with the New York Red Bulls when he met Lacazette in Lyon.

“Thierry shook me up. He told me I always have to keep working on myself, which you tend to forget when you’re young,” he said, as quoted by The Sun.

“When a player like Thierry speaks, you can’t ignore what he’s saying to you. I realised that to be a great player meant permanent hard work. Someone like him always wanted to improve, even with the career he had.”

Lacazette certainly reaped the rewards of that, as there was a notable spike in his goalscoring from 2013 onwards.

He became one of the most prolific and clinical strikers in Europe, but has had his accomplishments dismissed by some due to playing in Ligue 1.

Lacazette hopes he can show a wider audience what he’s capable of.

“It’s all well and good saying I score goals, I know very well that on a European scale I’m still not well known. I want to see if I can answer the questions people are asking.”

Arsenal’s record signing will now be in the odd position of having Henry comment on his work weekly from a cushy pundit position in the Sky Sports studio.

We’ll have some player on our hands if he can replicate even half of what Henry managed to do.