Arsene Wenger Admits Aubameyang Signing May Have Damaged Alexandre Lacazette's Confidence

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may have damaged the confidence of fellow forward Alexandre Lacazette.

The Frenchman missed two late chances for the Gunners in Saturday's 1-0 defeat against Tottenham at Wembley having been introduced as a substitute.

It has led to further criticism of his recent performances, but Wenger has insisted that Lacazette will eventually regain his goalscoring touch.

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"For him, one against one with the goalkeeper, he is a good goalscorer," said Wenger - quoted by the Independent.  "He has gone through difficult periods before. He works hard in training, works on his finishing.

"I don't know what happened, did he not touch the ball well? It can happen, it is a fraction of a second.

"Maybe the confidence is not at its highest because he has seen a competitor [Aubameyang] coming in for him."

Lacazette has scored only nine goals in 26 Premier League appearances this season since his £55m arrival from Lyon last summer.

Only one of those goals has been scored in the last ten games, a concerning run of form that has coincided with the club record signing of Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund.

However, Wenger has backed Lacazette to begin scoring again soon. “He created two chances today," he added. "That is a quality as well. He will score goals. He is a goalscorer, he scored goals in his whole career. He will score again.”