Arsenal look close to home with Premier League replacements for Lacazette

Arsenal are rumoured to be monitoring the situations of both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ollie Watkins as they begin their search for a replacement for Alexandre Lacazette.

Current striker Lacazette is thought to be edging ever closer to the Emirates exit and is yet to actually start a Premier League game for the Gunners this term.

His time at Arsenal has been somewhat underwhelming considering the then-club record fee of £47m plus add-ons has seen a return of 67 goals in 174 appearances - Lacazette has failed to hit 20 goals in a single season since he arrived from Lyon in 2017.

The France international is now in the final year of his Arsenal deal, with recent reports suggesting manager Mikel Arteta is ready to part ways with the forward - who has given no indication he wants to extend his stay in North London.

Alexandre Lacazette is yet to start a Premier League game for Arsenal this season (Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers)

As a result, Arteta has started the search for talent to fill the void when Lacazette eventually departs - identifying two Premier League talents, neither of whom are expected to come cheap.

The Sun claim that the Gunners are keen on both Everton 's Calvert-Lewin and Aston Villa 's Watkins to arrive at the Emirates next summer, both of whom have been involved in the England set-up since the start of last season.

Toffees talisman Calvert-Lewin bagged more goals out of the two targets last time around, finding the net 21 times across all competitions - sparking speculation that a number of clubs are interested in his signature.

Watkins could prove harder to lure away from Villa Park given he only arrived at the beginning of last term, in which he scored 16 goals in all competitions including his memorable hat-trick in the stunning 7-2 home victory over Liverpool.

There is a slim chance that Arsenal could still generate some cash for Lacazette if Arteta can find a potential suitor for the forward in January, though he would only allow his payer to leave if a replacement had already been lined up at that stage.

Arteta's Arsenal have already proven they are not afraid to spend big, forking out more than £140m in the summer on six new recruits - all of whom have settled well.

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Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been linked with a move to Arsenal ( Image:

PA)

Of those six summer signings, two were purchased from either current or former Premier League outfits in Brighton and Sheffield United for Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale respectively.

The Gunners boss' next target on the transfer wish-list is a young, Premier League-proven goalscorer - a profile both Calvert-Lewin and Watkins fit.

Given how crucial both strikers are for their respective sides, it is likely that Arsenal will have to spend big yet again if they are to entice either of them to the Emirates.

Arsenal's struggles in attack were on show for all to see during Saturday evening's 0-0 draw away at Brighton, in which the visitors failed to create more than one clear cut chance.

Arsenal are rumoured to be interested in Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins ( Image:

Pool via REUTERS)

"In the first half we struggled to dominate the game," Arteta said after the full-time whistle at the Amex.

"They proposed a really aggressive game, we struggled to break the press and that caused us problems because there was a lot of transitions and one-on-one situations that we could not deal with.

"We improved a little bit in the second half and had a couple of open situations that could have been big chances.

"We managed to get a point today because we defended the last 15-20 metres of the pitch really well. I think for the rest there is a lot of things we have to get better at."