Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette says he's feeling the love after stop-start first season

Leicester's visit to Arsenal on Monday brings Alexandre Lacazette full circle.

It took the Frenchman just 94 seconds on debut to open the scoring in what turned out to be a thrilling curtain-raiser to the 2017-18 Premier League campaign, as Olivier Giroud came off the bench to seal a 4-3 victory.

Lacazette had arrived to the fanfare associated with a club-record outlay — it cost £52.7million to prise him from Lyon — but he would go on to score just eight goals before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined from Borussia Dortmund in January to supersede him in price and the pecking order.

Aubameyang’s ineligibility for the Europa League reinforced Arsene Wenger’s view that only one of them should spearhead the Gunners attack and although Lacazette finished the season with a late flurry — eight goals in his final 10 matches — his ongoing worth was uncertain after just 12 months in England.

Current Arsenal boss Unai Emery revealed at the weekend that he tried to sign Lacazette for Paris Saint-Germain in 2016, a revelation that should serve as a fillip for a player who has also had to wait his turn this season.

Lacazette did not start a match of any description until scoring as Arsenal edged out Cardiff in early September, combining well with Aubameyang in what was only their fourth start together.

That partnership has since flourished, however, as Arsenal have racked up nine successive wins, the latest of which came in emphatic fashion against Fulham before the international break.

Both Lacazette and Aubameyang scored twice at Craven Cottage, confirming the pair are in rude health ahead of Leicester’s return to Emirates Stadium.

Jamie Vardy leads the visitors’ line, while Harry Maguire anchors their defence, a challenge Lacazette feels better placed to take on now.

“After the first year, it is now the best moment to show what I can do,” he said. “I know the Premier League is a difficult League and even in the team I feel more comfortable. I have friends who play for Leicester. I know [winger] Rachid Ghezzal from Lyon. I know they have a strong team. Vardy is a good striker. I like this guy because any balls in the box can be a goal for him. He never gives up. I like this kind of striker. He has got quality and scores goals.

Maguire was the first defender I played against in the Premier League last season so, of course, I have memories of him, but I came here to play against this kind of player. I need to be ready against this kind of defender. We respect them but, of course, we just want to win.”

Arsenal could climb to third place in the table with a resounding win, as Emery continues to make an encouraging start to life in north London following initial defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea at the campaign’s outset.

However, Lacazette insisted that the Gunners have not raised expectations too much this term, despite a top-four finish and accompanying silverware being the dual aim.

“We hope to get into the Champions League and win a cup,” he said. “That is the main objective of the team. We knew to start the season against the last two champions would be hard, but afterwards we had to win every game [and did so].

“Everyone is happy about this, but we know if we did this it is because we worked a lot, so we have to work hard again.

“The fans are maybe now happier, so we just want to [keep] making them happy. We play our football, we try to score many goals.”

The issue facing Emery is that he has two leading No9s and two players, in Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey, who prefer to operate as No10s.

Fitting all four into the same team is a conundrum at the top end of the pitch in which Ramsey is increasingly appearing to be the fall-guy, as evidenced by the club’s decision to withdraw a contract offer after months of inertia on the issue.

Just two months ago, there was talk Lacazette could leave on loan in search of first-team football. Currently, it appears Welshman Ramsey is the one playing for his Arsenal future.

How quickly things can change.