Alexandre Lacazette ‘attacked by wasps’ as Lyon team-mate suffers same fate in forest

Alexandre Lacazette could be forced to miss Lyon’s pre-season clash with Feyenoord on Sunday after he was attacked by wasps during his team’s training camp in the Netherlands. Lacazette enjoyed a five-year spell at Arsenal but departed north London to return to France when his contract expired earlier this summer.

Lyon opened their pre-season campaign with a 4-2 victory over FBBP earlier this month, before facing Dynamo Kyiv twice in back-to-back friendlies three days later as they lost 3-1 to the Ukrainians in the first encounter before winning the second one 3-0. And on Saturday, the French giants were defeated 3-0 by Anderlecht in a fourth friendly.

Lyon headed to the Netherlands on Monday to continue their preparations for the new Ligue 1 season. But disaster struck when Lacazette was the victim of a dozen wasp bites in a Netherlands forest, according to L’Equipe. And he isn’t certain to play on Sunday.

Lacazette’s new team-mate Moussa Dembele was also attacked by the wasps but reacted better and was present at training on Thursday. So it remains to be seen how quickly Lacazette can recover.

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Lacazette continued to impress throughout his Arsenal career but wasn’t always a regular starter after Mikel Arteta took over from Unai Emery at the end of 2019. And last season he also wasn’t favoured until Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the club to join Barcelona.

The Gunners were keen to keep Lacazette at the club before his time at the Emirates Stadium came to an end. But the France international refused to sign a new contract. And as his time in England drew to a close, Arteta said: “Laca has been a fantastic player for us. He’s been a real leader on and off the pitch and has been a very important influence to our younger players. His commitment with us has been exceptional and we wish him and his family success and happiness.”