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Arsenal have made a real statement of intent ahead of the new season by signing one of Europe's most-wanted strikers.

The Gunners have bagged Alexandre Lacazette for £53m from Lyon, and their fans are right to be excited about his arrival in north London. Only seven players in Europe's big five leagues scored more goals than the 26-year-old French international did in the 2016/17 season.

The interesting for Arsenal fans to consider is that he has scored so many goals from relatively few shots.

(Image: @Arsenal / Twitter)

Lacazette averaged 3.1 shots per 90 minutes played, and 65 players (who played at least 20 matches) across the continent's big leagues took more. Had he not run riot in matches against Marseille and Dijon, where he took 10 and eight shots respectively, his figure would be even lower.

Of course, scoring 10 penalties helped to boost his goal tally from his relatively low shot total of 84. Only three teams (never mind players) scored more times than Lacazette from the spot in the big leagues last season.

This is not to say he's not a great goal scorer. Even if we exclude the penalties, Lacazette still scored 18 goals from 72 shots, converting 25% of his attempts at goal. That's way over the average conversion rate of 10%, but that was a credit to his top quality shooting opportunities.

Opta classify the best chances as 'clear-cut' (which they define as "a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score usually in a one-on-one scenario or from very close range"), and even excluding penalties Lacazette had 25 of these golden opportunities.

To put this into context, a player has only had so many non-penalty clear-cut chances in the Premier League 16 times across the last six seasons. The Arsenal new boy shouldn't struggle for quality service in England either. The Gunners had the third most clear-cut chances in the top flight last season, and the most the year before that.

Lacazette is used to playing as the main man up front, and that will no doubt be the case in north London too. Lyon employed a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 in 29 of their league matches last season, similar to the system Arsene Wenger employed before the late-season shift to three at the back. Even when playing up front alone, a striker needs to create opportunities for others, so how did the French international fare?

The former Lyon forward averaged 1.9 key passes per 90 minutes played, an elite figure for a striker in the top five leagues. For context, this was on par with Luis Suarez, and only three forwards who started at least 20 games up front averaged more.

They may not appear to be similar players, but it's interesting that on a numerical basis Lacazette is a similar player to Liverpool's Roberto Firmino.

(Image: Getty Images)

Lacazette's assist tally of three was perhaps therefore a little on the low side, but of course for a player to get an assist he is dependent on the finishing of his colleagues.

Setting up the chances is the main thing, and Arsenal's new signing did well on this front. Lacazette was ahead of Olivier Giroud (1.3) in this regard but behind Alexis Sanchez (2.2).

When playing up front alone, it's also important to be able to go past opposition defenders, and the Gunners' most recent signing doesn't disappoint here. He completed 1.8 dribbles per 90 minutes on average, which ranks him 6th amongst the continent's centre forwards - once again behind Sanchez but ahead of Giroud.

One thing is certain, Arsenal have signed a top forward and one who should easily clock up at least 20 league goals next season.

Can Arsenal win the title next season with Lacazette leading the line? Let us know what you think in the comments below.