Thierry Henry on Alexandre Lacazette, Romelu Lukaku and the summer’s other big striker moves

Bet365

As the new Premier League season draws closer, Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry gives his expert verdict on the big striker moves of the summer transfer window.

Will Alexandre Lacazette be a success at Arsenal? Will Romelu Lukaku bring goals to Manchester United?

The Arsenal legend also has his say on Alvaro Morata, Javier Hernandez, Wayne Rooney and Kelechi Iheanacho.
Henry on… Alexandre Lacazette

I have been following Lacazette for a long time. He has been a talent since youth level. He has always been a guy that people have talked about. At Lyon he scored goal after goal after goal, so it is not surprising that he was hot property on the transfer market.
We all know about his quality. He’s an excellent finisher. He has a great mind, a great mentality, great commitment and great focus. When you buy players from abroad you don’t know for sure how they will adapt, but I back Lacazette to be successful in the Premier League.

It’s a funny one for Olivier Giroud, because Lacazette is his back-up in the national team but it looks like he will be first choice at Arsenal. I don’t know how many times it has happened in history that two players have switched roles like that between national team and club. I’m not saying it is right or wrong but it is an interesting dynamic.
Arsene Wenger clearly sees things differently to the national team coach. Maybe he has different plans and different tactics. Lacazette is a different kind of striker to Giroud. He will stretch teams and go in behind the defence. It’s good for Arsenal to have those options, and of course they also have Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott.

But I like the way Lacazette plays. Now it’s up to him to show us what he can do for Arsenal.

Henry on… Romelu Lukaku

He’s definitely ready for this move. He has paid his dues. He didn’t get much of a chance at Chelsea for whatever reason, so he went to West Brom and delivered. At Everton, he more than delivered. He smashed club records which had stood for a long time, so you have to give him credit.

Does he deserve a move to a big team? Based on what he has done, you have to say yes. He is no one-season wonder. He has been scoring goals consistently. Now he needs to show he can do it with a big team and I back him to do it.
The only question is how long it takes him to adapt. He’s not going to be facing the same type of opposition at the weekends. He is going to have to develop a part of his game that maybe people have questioned in the past. Can he play in the final third when the opposition sit deep?

It will be a change for him, but I wasn’t the same player at 24 as I was at 28. It comes with the habit of playing in that kind of situation, of playing with better players.
What I can say about him is that he is a massive student of the game. Everything he does, he does at 100 per cent. I’m as excited as anyone to see how good he is going to be at United. It’s definitely a plus to have a guy like Romelu in your team. Anything that drops in the box is usually a goal.

Henry on… Alvaro Morata

He is the type of striker that Antonio Conte likes. He’s generous in the way he plays, he knows what he needs to do at all times. He asks for the ball in behind, he holds the ball up and he can score goals too.

It will be interesting to see how he does. He struggled to play all the time at Real Madrid, but I know a few players who would struggle to play in that front line. He was vital in helping Juventus to the Champions League final two years ago and he scored goals whenever he was called upon at Madrid.
Conte will make him work exactly the way he wants. Morata will have a good idea of what to expect because, although he didn’t play under Conte, it was the same kind of vibe at Juventus. He will know about that.

He will need to get used to the Premier League but then he will perform. I’m very excited about him. It’s a heavy task to come after Diego Costa but someone has to do it. Someone had to do it after Didier Drogba, someone had to do it after Gianfranco Zola. That’s the way it is. When you look at Morata’s numbers you know the guy can score goals. I like him and I hope it works out.

Henry on… Javier Hernandez

I remember people being upset when I criticised him for celebrating a goal on his own a few years ago at Real Madrid, but I have always liked him as a player.
I played against him when I was at Barcelona and he was a young player at Chivas. I remember saying to Rafael Marquez: „Who is that guy?“ He said he was going to be a good player and it has turned out to be true.

He’s an old-fashioned striker, in a way. He’s lethal in the box and he can hold the ball. We’ve seen it since he was at Manchester United. It’s not always easy to just come off the bench and score but he used to come up with some big goals at crucial moments.
It looks like a very, very good buy for West Ham. He knows the league and he has the experience of playing for two of the biggest teams in the world in Manchester United and Real Madrid.

I wasn’t surprised to see him join West Ham because they have a history of luring players like that to the club. They had Paolo Di Canio and more recently Dimitri Payet. So there is a bit of history there. I think Chicharito will do well.

Henry on… Wayne Rooney

First and foremost I think it was an obvious move for him. The man is an Everton supporter and he’s gone back home. People were asking whether it was the right choice, but you can’t fault someone for wanting to go back home. No one could question his desire when he wore the Manchester United shirt, but he’s an Everton fan.
The most important thing for me is that he’s happy, but he has looked good in pre-season and I’m sure Everton fans are happy too. What Everton are getting is a guy who knows exactly what it takes to win in this league. OK, you can tell me he’s not in the same team and he’s not the same player, but he’s an Everton fan who will give everything to make an impact.

I would love him to do well. You hope that it’s going to be a great Hollywood ending and he can help Everton win something. It looks like they are building a team there. If they get Gylfi Sigurdsson along with Rooney and maybe a few more, then the top six will have to watch out.
Henry on… Kelechi Iheanacho

It’s an amazing opportunity for him. I think back to Manuel Pellegrini’s last season at Manchester City. He wasn’t the only one but he was the spark in the team, fighting everywhere, scoring goals, trying his hardest. So I think it’s a good buy for Leicester.
It will be interesting to see how he interacts with Jamie Vardy. Is he going to do the job of Shinji Okazaki? Is Okazaki going to keep his place? Are they going to be more adventurous? I don’t know whether Craig Shakespeare will play a 4-4-1-1 or a proper 4-4-2, but it’s a good signing.

Whenever he had to do something at Manchester City, even when things were not great for the team, he delivered. People might say he had better players around him but let’s not forget that Leicester won the league two years ago. They have some good players too.Euro Soccer Bonus

Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.

This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.

The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.

If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:

Bet Type Bonus

14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Euro Soccer Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.

If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.

If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.

In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.

bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.