Arsenal and Liverpool target Alexandre Lacazette reveals admiration for Atletico Madrid

Arsenal summer target Alexandre Lacazette has spoken of his admiration for Atletico Madrid, who are also said to be interested in signing the free-scoring forward.

The France international has been subject to interest from a number of clubs for over a year owing to his impressive performances for Lyon in Ligue 1. Lacazette has scored over 20 goals in three consecutive seasons in the French League, making him one of the most coveted strikers in Europe at the moment.

Arsene Wenger is a big admirer of the striker and tried to sign him last summer, but Arsenal's £30.1m ($37.6m) bid fell short of Lyon's valuation. Liverpool have entered the race to sign him this summer, while Atletico also maintain an interest.

Lacazette is eager to find pastures new this summer, but has made it clear that he will only join a club which is in the Champions League. Arsenal and Liverpool could lose out to the Spanish capital club as both are still not guaranteed a place in the Premier League top four and a place in Europe's elite club competition. One of them is certain to miss out with the battle going into the last weekend of the 2016/17 campaign.

However, Atletico have already guaranteed their place in next season's Champions League and have consistently shown that they can compete with the best in Europe with two finals in the last four years. The 25-year-old French striker has praised the club, the players and the manager and will also have a chance to play with compatriot Antoine Griezmann.

"Yes, I like them," Lacazette said of Atletico, as quoted by the London Evening Standard. "They've got great players, a great manager, a good fanbase and Antoine [Griezmann] is there."

"We'll see what happens at the end of the season and I'll think about it then. There are things, but the press talks about a lot of clubs, but I trust what my agent tells me and we'll see," he added.

Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas recently admitted that the club are prepared to sell their top scorer, but reiterated that any interested club must meet their demands.

"If the club of his heart is able to match our demands - as Barcelona did last season for Sam Umtiti - then things will go well. Otherwise, it will depend on our other business," Aulas admitted.