Alexandre Lacazette

In-form Lacazette

Is Alexandre Lacazette the real deal or is this seasons goalscoring form an aberration.

At the half way mark in the season Lacazette has scored 20 goals in 25 games for French club Lyon. Only Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored as many goals as him at this stage in the last 30 years of French football. That's not bad company to be in.

Lacazette has shown real promise since the 2011-12 Ligue 1 season when he became a regular in the side. Now at the age of 23 it looks as though he is finally showing his full potential. Now he is receiving interest from some of the Premier League's top teams.

President of Lyon Jean-Michel Aulas has said on many occasions that Lacazette will not be leaving in January but he knows he will not be able to keep him in Summer if he continues to play as he is. That is the key for Lacazette. For him to get a big move this year he needs to keep scoring goals and putting in consistent performances. If his performance levels drop once the second half of the season gets under way in France then interest in the striker may not be so high.

It is likely that Alexandre is going to end up in the Premier League this offseason and teams such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City have sent scouts to France to observe Lacazette. Arsenal are looking for a consistent striker who will score goals on a regular basis but Man City seem to be in pole position for the striker. Manuel Pellegrini has decided to make Alvaro Negredo's loan spell to Valencia permanent and there is also rumours emerging that Stevan Jovetic is on his way to Juventus. Pellegrini has already secured the services of Wilfried Bony and is hoping to add a second striker to his transfer signings. There is also interest in France from PSG, the only French club that would be able to afford him.

Marquinhos

Marquinhos if you haven't heard of him already, will probably become the best centre-back in the game.

At the age of 19 he moved from AS Roma to Paris Saint-Germain for a whopping fee of €31.4 million, after spending just a single year at Roma who spent €3 million to acquire the teenager.

Put simply Marquinhos is the perfect centre-back. The 20 year old has everything the ideal defender needs. It is no wonder then why PSG spent so much to get him and also tied him down to a 5 year contract.

Marquinhos has pace, strength, heading and tackling ability etc. Whatever qualities you think a centre-back should have, he has. But what sets Marquinhos apart is the intangibles. The mental part of the game. Despite being so young he shows incredible temperament and the ability to remain calm and undaunted no matter what challenge faces him. His vision and anticipation of play is also extraordinary. He makes the game a whole lot easier for himself by reading the play, anticipating through balls and attackers' movements.

Moving to such a huge club for the kind of money he did can come with a lot of pressure but Marquinhos seems to handle it with ease putting in consistent performances for the French champions.

Marquinhos is certainly one of the most promising young players in Europe and has the talent to become the best in his position. Definitely one to keep your eye on.