Lacazette returns to Lyon on free transfer from Arsenal

Former France international Alexandre Lacazette returned to Ligue 1 side Lyon on a free transfer five years after he joined Arsenal for a then club-record fee of £46.5 million ($58 million).

The 31-year-old striker underwent a medical on Wednesday before signing a three-year contract with the club where he made his name after coming through the youth system.

Lyon said in a statement that Lacazette’s return had been a priority for several months so as to “infuse a new dynamic” into the team which finished a disappointing eighth in last season’s championship.

Lacazette — capped 16 times from 2013 to 2017 — scored 129 goals in 275 matches in his previous spell at Lyon before Arsenal came calling in 2017 when Arsene Wenger was still in charge.

The deal — up to £52.6m with add-ons — surpassed the £42.4m Arsenal paid Real Madrid for Mesut Ozil in 2013.

He went on to score 71 goals in 206 appearances for the Gunners winning the FA Cup in 2017 and was a member of the side that lost in the 2019 Europa League final.

He was handed the captaincy last season after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang — who has since joined Barcelona — was stripped of it due to a disciplinary breach.