Alexandre Lacazette has been heavily linked with a move to Newcastle United this summer after enjoying a breakthrough campaign at Lyon last season. Lacazette scored 15 Ligue 1 goals in 32 appearances for his club and 23 in 46 total appearances for the French side. And now, Alan Pardew is ready to sanction a move, and will use the out-of-favour Hatem Ben Arfa as bait to sign the striker. Ben Arfa has been used sparingly by Pardew over the last few seasons and the Magpies are prepared to offload him to Lyon if Lacazette heads the other way. The move would represent a sound decision on Pardew's part. The Englishman has been unhappy with Ben Arfa's attitude and recently forced him to train with the reserves, while at 23, Lacazette is just beginning to hit his stride and has enormous potential. He has already been capped two times by France and is tipped to make it big on the grand stage over the next few seasons.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
