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The boss... on Lacazette, Evans and Barry

It’s unusual to see Arsene Wenger sit down for a pre-match press conference more than four days before the actual game - and just hours after our last match.

The dust was still settling from our win over Doncaster when the boss faced the media on Thursday morning but there was still plenty to discuss as the build-up to our Monday clash with West Bromwich Albion got underway.

Alex Lacazette, Jonny Evans and Gareth Barry were all on the agenda, and here’s what Wenger said about them:

on Lacazette’s adaption…

I believe he has first of all adapted to the team play, he connects well with the other players, he is disciplined, he works hard for the team and on the technical and tactical aspect I am very pleased. He still needs to adapt to the physical aspect of the Premier League and that will take a little bit of time, but on the other fronts there is no problem at all.

on Jonny Evans and whether he’d like to sign him still…

No. Once the transfer period is over, you focus on your squad and your players. You accept that as well from the players who play for their club.

on Gareth Barry needing one appearance to break Ryan Giggs’ record of 632…

I believe that it’s an outstanding achievement and that he’s a player who is intelligent, determined, strong in the challenge, has good technical quality and I personally always rated him highly. I think he was a bit unlucky with England because he was in the period of Lampard and Gerrard and didn’t get the number of caps he deserved maybe for England, but it’s an exceptional achievement what he’s doing.

on possibly signing Barry in the past…

We were interested in him yes, when he moved from Aston Villa to Manchester City, but at the time City was the big investor and so that financial potential was superior to ours at the time.

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