Robert Pires is convinced that Alexandre Lacazette will grow into an important player at Arsenal.

The 26-year-old striker joined Arsenal in the summer from Lyon, and has shown plenty of quality in the Premier League so far.

He has five goals in nine games, and Pires believes that he’ll continue to improve the more that he plays.

“Lacazette is a like a warrior, he loves to fight, he loves to run, he has a very good spirit,” Pires said, as reported by the Daily Star.

“He can learn quickly because he works every day with great players, so that’s why he’s very important and I’m sure Lacazette can help Arsenal to win something at the end of the season.”

Lacazette was able to link-up with both Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez for the first time in the 5-2 win Everton last weekend.

The trio combined for two of the goals, and showed encouraging signs that they could form a devastating combination.

Before then, he was doing well with Arsenal’s fringe attackers, showing that he had settled in quickly.

Pires has put that down to the French influence at the club.

“If you want to click you need a very good feeling. For example for me it was easy to play with Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira or Sylvain Wiltord, it was the French connection.

“It’s the same for Lacazette because on the team they have a lot of French players like (Olivier) Giroud, Laurent Koscielny, Francis Coquelin, these guys can help Lacazette reach a high level.

“Of course, I think the most important for the players is the manager. Everybody knows Arsene Wenger is French, so that’s why Lacazette can have a very good feeling.”

Lacazette faces competition from the likes of Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud at the club, but Pires has backed the striker to keep his spot in the team.

“I know Lacazette is very confident, he believes always in himself.

“He wants to work for the team, he knows it’s very difficult because Arsenal have a big competition [for places], they have big strikers like Giroud, like Danny Welbeck, so it is very competitive between the strikers.

“But I think Alex is good and I’m very happy because Arsenal have spent a lot of money for a great striker.”

Giroud has gotten the nod in cup matches this season, and has also received a decent number of minutes off the bench.

Although Lacazette has played in every Premier League game so far, he’s only completed 90 minutes once.

That he’s still managed to make an impact despite his reduced minutes shows the quality he possesses.