Give Alexandre Lacazette time and he'll shine for Arsenal, says Francis Coquelin

Francis Coquelin has urged Arsenal supporters to show patience as record signing Alexandre Lacazette looks to settle into the Premier League.

The £52.7million striker arrived at Arsenal earlier this summer with a prodigious goalscoring record in the French league, where he scored 113 goals in 183 games for Lyon across the last four seasons.

Though replicating that goalscoring form will doubtless prove more challenging in the Premier League Lacazette is unlikely to be given much time to adapt, especially with his performances in pre-season suggesting he should fit smoothly into Arsenal’s fluid attacking system.

However Coquelin, who played alongside Lacazette in France’s victorious side at the 2010 European Under-19 Championships, believes the 26-year-old must be given time to find his feet in a new country.

“People expect a lot,” Coquelin, speaking at the launch of Arsenal’s new football programme with Centrepoint, told Standard Sport. “They’ll probably be impatient but they need to give him time because the Premier League is a tough competition.

“We’ve seen players that need time to adapt but I’m very confident he can do that.

“He’s got players around him that can make him shine and he’s a great goalscorer. I’m sure he’ll put the ball in the back of the net.”

Soon after his arrival from Lyon Lacazette revealed that Coquelin had helped convince him to make the move to the Premier League, a year after Arsenal had seen a £29m bid rejected.

Coquelin, though, is eager to downplay the role he played in persuading his compatriot to move to north London, insisting that Arsenal sells itself to any prospective arrival.

“He just asked me the normal questions that anyone would ask when you know someone at the club just about facilities, the training. I can only say good things about Arsenal, they’re the club who brought me here when I was 17. I only have good memories here.

“I don’t think I played a big, big part in his decision in the end of the day. He knew what he was doing.”