Alexandre Lacazette to Chelsea: Blues given boost over move for France striker as he wants Premier League switch

Lacazette has ruled out a January transfer but could be on his way to England at the end of the season

Alexandre Lacazette could leave Lyon at the end of the season with Chelsea interested (Getty Images)

Chelsea have received a major boost in their hopes of signing France international Alexandre Lacazette after the Lyon striker admitted he will consider leaving the Ligue 1 club, but only in the summer.

Both Chelsea and Newcastle are interested in the 24-year-old, with the Magpies believed to have been rebuffed in their approach for him earlier this month. Having scored 27 goals in his 33 Ligue 1 appearances last season – a figure which saw him lead the way in the French top flight – he has continued to fire this campaign and has already found the back of the net nine times.

But with Lyon currently sixth in Ligue 1 and struggling to break into the Champions League qualifying positions, Lacazette has promised to do all he can this season to help his club move up the table, ruling out a January move in the process.

However, even though Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas stressed that the Premier League was not on Lacazette’s radar, the player himself has admitted that he is weighing up a move to England.

"Yes, I am thinking about it and the Premier League is very attractive for a player,” Lacazette told The Telegraph when asked about a move to England.

"But I know that to go there I have to do well this season. So I am very concentrated on doing well and maybe, after that, I will go there.

"I know that it is possible that I will move to the Premier League and Lyon are aware of that also. There is no formal agreement that I will go, but the president [Aulas] knows that it's a possibility that I will leave Lyon at the end of the season."

Newcastle were reported to have approached Lyon over a move for Lacazette, having already repeated their desire to delve into the French market this month after signing Senegal midfielder Henri Saivet in a £5m deal from Bordeaux.

But Lacazette has made it perfectly clear that he will not leave this month, and will instead do his best to perform for Lyon ahead of the 2016 European Championships which are being held in his home nation in the summer.

"I will stay at Lyon in January. I have some personal objectives to follow from until the end of the season,” Lacazette added. “Then at the end of the season we will see. I will speak about staying or not at Lyon.

"The first goal is to improve the position of the team and make sure we finish in second place and qualify for the Champions League. The second objective is more personal, it is about scoring goals."

Lacazette’s future could well be decided at Euro 2016, given that a number of his France team-mates are currently plying their trade in the Premier League. The forward admits that he has spoken with players from Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle about the English top flight, and hinted that Chelsea may not be the club for him if they fail to qualify for the Champions league next season.

"They should play Champions League and play good football, passing the ball and not just hitting it from box to box. Not kick and rush. It would not work for me," he said.

"I have spoken with Francis Coquelin and I know [Henri] Saivet who has just signed for Newcastle and when I am with the French national team, I talk to [Mamadou] Sakho, [Eliaquim] Mangala, [Bacary] Sagna and they all speak very highly of the Premier League."