Alexandre Lacazette reveals his mum made him become a striker… because playing in goal was too dangerous
French attacker joined Arsenal in a £52million deal but admitted he may have been joining as a goalie if his mum had not been so worried
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE has revealed he only became a star striker because his mum thought it was less risky than being a goalie.
And Lacazette says as a kid he was so shy he used to get embarrassed if his teams scored too many goals against opposition teams.
The 26 year-old said: "I did like playing in goal when I was young but my mum wasn't very keen as she thought being a goalie was too dangerous. She said that I either played as a forward or not at all.
"Sometimes I was embarrassed for the opposition if there was a huge goal difference between the two teams but that didn't happen all the time.
"I suppose temperament wise, I was quite reserved. I still am. I just liked playing football with my friends.
"If we lost, of course I was sad. I used to cry at the slightest negative thing. Don't worry, it's changed now!"
Lacazette scored 37 goals for Lyon last season but admits that will be a challenge to replicate with the Gunners.
But he has got off to a cracking start with four in seven Premier League appearances.
He said: "I will try my level best to achieve that but there is a big difference in that I was played in virtually every match at Lyon. Here the manager likes to rotate players to keep them fresh for the Premier League.
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"I will try my best to score that many goals but this is my first season so it's all quite new. I want to settle in and repay the confidence that's been shown in me.
"The main difference in the Premier League is that game is a lot more physical. The pace of the game is also very different - I now really understand what it means to play box to box.
"Things can move so fast that you don't have time to catch your breath or think about the next move."
