Arsenal need to forget about Mbappe and stump up the cash for Lacazette

Arsenal have, apparently, seen an £87 million bid for Monaco sensation Kylian Mbappe knocked back.
If such an offer really was tabled, then the Gunners’ ambition is to be applauded.

You do, however, get the feeling that this is all part of some elaborate PR stunt at Emirates Stadium to keep supporters happy and believing that this year things really will be different.

Arsenal fans have learned the hard way down the years to hope for the best but expect the worst when it comes to transfer windows.

Various names will be offered up each time the opportunity to bolster the ranks rolls around, but more often than not the deadline will pass with frustration overriding any feeling of optimism.

There have been big-money deals, with Arsene Wenger loosening the purse strings a little, but more could certainly have been done and a fifth-place finish in 2016-17 has highlighted those failings in the most painful way possible.

A reluctance to break the bank could be forgiven – almost – with Champions League on the agenda every year, with a standing among the European elite ensuring that Arsenal remained an attractive proposition to potential new recruits.