Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin believes new-boy Alexandre Lacazette could surpass his 37 goals for Lyon, as he should get more chances for the Gunners this season.

Coquelin has known Lacazette for a long time. Both players turned 26 in May and have played alongside one another for France at youth level. Back in 2010, they represented Les Blues in the UEFA European U19 Football Championship, winning the trophy and the FIFA U20 World Cup the following year.

They’ve remained friends ever since. And as reported in the Daily Star, Coquelin didn’t hold back in singing the praises of Arsenal’s new signing. He seemed certain Lacazette would have a positive impact.

He said: “When you are a goalscorer, you are a goalscorer. In front of goal he’s always ice cold, he always scores a lot of goals. When we played with the national team, he finished top scorer when we played the Under-20 World Cup.

“His record for Lyon is incredible. He’s shown that in front of goal he doesn’t mess around and that’s what we need.”

Coquelin then went on to talk about how things might be different at Arsenal, or in the case of Lacazette’s finishing, how he hoped they would be the same: “He will probably get even more chances than he did at Lyon and it is down to him to score them but I’m pretty sure he has come here with his confidence high.

“He doesn’t need many chances to put them away. I hope we will see that this season. He scored 37 goals last season in 45 games, so I don’t know why he cannot score for Arsenal.”

It’s a ringing endorsement, and hopefully one that the former Lyon star can live up to. Regardless, Lacazette will be happy to already have someone in the team who he knows will have his back on and off the pitch.