Happy Birthday, Alexandre Lacazette!

Join us in wishing Happy Birthday to Alexandre Lacazette, Olympique Lyonnais club legend -- learn more about his storied career with our latest.

Lyon through and through

Born in the city proper, to parents of Guadaloupean origin, Lacazette joined Lyon's academy in 2003 at the age of 12, having marked out Sonny Anderson as a boyhood hero. While his integration into the first team under Claude Puel was something of a prolonged process, he made early waves internationally, first helping France to the 2010 U-19 European Championships before winning the Bronze Ball at the next summer's U-20 World Cup. He would feature more often in the 2010-11 season, but was often deployed as a winger, with Lisandro Lopez and Bafétimbi Gomis the team's preferred strike partnership.

With the Argentine's departure in the summer of 2013, though, Lacazette (who had made his first appearance for France in May) would partner Gomis in a formidable attacking duo. The pair each teach the twenty goal mark across all competitions, facilitating a run to both the Coupe de la Ligue final and the Europa League quarters, but the best was yet to come. 

In 2014-15, he finished top scorer in the league and was named the UNFP Player of the Year, helping the team come second and return to the Champions League. He would hit the 20 goal mark in the next two seasons, and finished his first spell at the club in  2017, having helped Les Gones reach the Europa League semifinals before departing to Arsenal. 

Lacazette, a true legend! 🎉

HB @LacazetteAlex 🫶 pic.twitter.com/wRbMGO1roM

— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) May 28, 2025

a triumphant return

If Lacazette's previous achievements hadn't endeared him to supporters of his boyhood club, his second act would cement his status as legend. Following the conclusion of his time in London, where he scored 71 goals and recorded 33 assists in 206 appearances, he would rejoin Lyon on a free transfer in the summer of 2022. Signing a three-year contract, he hit the ground running in his first season back, scoring 31 goals in 39 appearances despite Lyon enduring a difficult season.

While his age would start to show in successive campaigns, he would finish his time with the club last summer with another deep run in Europe, having brought his career total to 201 goals for Les Gones. That figure leaves him second only to Fleury di Nallo, and marks his time at the club as a truly elite group of strikers to have worn the shirt, alongside the likes of Karim Benzema, di Nallo and the legendary Bernard Lacombe.

Happy Birthday, Alexandre!

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