ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE insists he is happy remaining at Lyon, despite a fresh attempt from Newcastle United officials to lure the striker to St James’ Park.
Lacazette has been one of the Magpies’ leading attacking targets all summer, and while Emmanuel Riviere, Ayoze Perez and Facundo Ferrerya have all moved to Tyneside since the opening of the transfer window, Alan Pardew would like to recruit one more striker before the end of the month.
Newcastle’s recruitment team have been back in touch with the Lyon hierarchy this week to discuss a possible offer for the 23-year-old, who is rated in the £15m bracket by his current employers.
While the Magpies would be unwilling to go that high, they had been hoping that Lacazette’s rumoured desire to move to England would enable them to drive down his price in the closing stages of the window.
However, the two-time France international has spoken of his willingness to remain in Ligue 1 and claimed he is focusing on starting the new campaign with Lyon.
“Last winter, there were rumours, rumours of a possible departure and you can hear anything and everything, it has not been easy,” said Lacazette. “Now I am used to it, and I am now in Lyon and concentrating on the new season.”
Lacazette also revealed that another of Newcastle’s long-term targets, Clement Grenier, was in a similar position, despite having barely featured in Lyon’s pre-season programme.
“It is true that myself and Clement have people looking at us,” he said. “But it’s a good pressure to have.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s squad numbers for the new season confirm Hatem Ben Arfa’s slide down the pecking order at St James’ Park, and increase the likelihood of the winger leaving this month.
Ben Arfa has lost the number ten shirt that he has worn for the last three seasons, and has instead been awarded number 26 in the new numbering arrangement.
Siem de Jong replaces Ben Arfa at number ten, with Ryan Taylor taking the vacant number four shirt and Rolando Aarons claiming number 16 after a series of strong showings in pre-season.
Interestingly, Jonas Gutierrez has retained the number 18 shirt despite having failed to appear in a single pre-season game amid unconfirmed reports that his contract is set to be cancelled.
Newcastle squad numbers
1 Tim Krul
2 Fabricio Coloccini
3 Davide Santon
4 Ryan Taylor
6 Mike Williamson
7 Moussa Sissoko
8 Vurnon Anita
9 Papiss Cisse
10 Siem de Jong
11 Yoan Gouffran
13 Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa
14 Jack Colback
15 Facundo Ferreyra
16 Rolando Aarons
17 Ayoze Perez
18 Jonas Gutierrez
19 Massadio Haidara
20 Remy Cabella
21 Rob Elliot
22 Daryl Janmaat
23 Haris Vuckic
24 Cheick Tiote
25 Gabriel Obertan
26 Hatem Ben Arfa
27 Steven Tayor
28 Sammy Ameobi
29 Emmanuel Riviere
30 Mehdi Abeid
31 Jak Alnwick
32 Adam Armstrong
33 Curtis Good
34 Remie Streete
35 Adam Campbell
36 Paul Dummett
37 Lubo Satka
38 Gael Bigirimana
39 Shane Ferguson
40 Olivier Kemen
41 Freddie Woodman
42 Kevin Mbabu
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