Arsenal News: Arsene Wenger explains why Alexandre Lacazette has been struggling to score

Arsene Wenger has come out in defence of his record summer signing Alexandre Lacazette after the Frenchman has experienced a barren run in front goal. The former Lyon man last found the back of the net of December 2.

The forward, who was signed for £52million in the off season has been suffering from a knee injury, Wenger explained. And now he is set to miss up to six weeks owing to the injury.

“He got a surprising swell of the knee after the game against Tottenham and he needed surgery very quick,” Wenger told beIN Sports.

“It's a massive blow for us and we have to find a solution. Nobody could predict that.

“Football does unpredictable things and it's always a good opportunity for someone to step in and do well.

“I think he recently must have felt something in his knee. Maybe that's an explanation as to why he wasn't scoring as many goals as he's used to.”

The diminutive striker had a successful operation on his left knee on Tuesday to fix the ongoing problem. The Frenchman is believed to have been playing through pain but the situation has now worsened so much that he has had to go under the knife.

This, however, means that Lacazette will miss the League Cup final at the end of month in addition to around four Premier League fixtures. The surgery also rules him out of the Round of 32 and Round 16 clashes in the Europa League.

With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cup-tied and Olivier Giroud having made an exit in January, it will be interesting to see who will lead the line for Arsenal in Europe in the coming weeks.