Alexandre Lacazette settled at Arsenal and confident for his future | Football

Alexandre Lacazette expects to stay at Arsenal despite reports suggesting he will be allowed to leave if the club do not qualify for the Champions League.

The centre-forward who cost £52.7m has two seasons remaining on his contract and there is not the same urgency to tie him down to a longer deal as there is in the case of – among others – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

It has been suggested Lacazette and club are willing to part ways in the event of an unsuccessful season but the striker said on Wednesday he had no reason to depart. “I didn’t know about this. I have a contract with the club, so there is no point to leave – everybody is happy with me at the club.”

Lacazette admitted this season had been “difficult” on a personal level, with the manager, Mikel Arteta, also saying the player has been “a little bit down”. Goals have arrived in irregular bursts, his recent effort against Newcastle ending a nine-game drought, and he has recently been kept out of the Premier League side by the academy product Eddie Nketiah.

Lacazette is likely to start in the Europa League last-32 game against Olympiakos on Thursday and, having scored a late winner to decide the first leg in Piraeus, hopes he and his team have overcome the worst of a fraught season.

“In this moment we improve a lot, mentally and we can keep big confidence now,” he said. “I went through this and know I can be better now.”

Arsenal’s two senior strikers were the primary topics in the pre-match press conference and the briefing held by Arteta afterwards. Arteta had spoken extensively about Aubameyang after he scored twice in Sunday’s 3-2 home win over Everton, saying he thinks the 30-year-old would like to stay. Aubameyang’s figures in two years at Arsenal have been remarkable, bringing 60 goals in 95 games; the TV pundit Gary Neville has been among those to suggest his quality is underrated and Arteta agreed a centre-forward’s worth does not have to be measured in trophies.

“Harry Kane has scored 30 goals and never won the Premier League,” he said, with a hint of mischief. “There are a lot of good examples of players that do phenomenally but unfortunately there are a lot of top teams in this country and only one win the league. So you can’t have everything in life.

“What I can say with Aubameyang is that he’s right there with the best of the scorers in this league. In the last 10 years if you look at his record and what he’s done it’s phenomenal. In my opinion he’s up there with the best.”

Arteta will name another strong side in an attempt to finish the job against Olympiakos, with consecutive Premier League wins not masking the fact Europa League success remains Arsenal’s best chance of a return to the top table at this point. He will have to do without Sead Kolasinac, who was expecxted to see a specialist on Wednesday about the shoulder injury sustained against Newcastle. “It’s a difficult area and we are not very positive about it,” he admitted.

Bukayo Saka will probably start at left-back and Lacazette, sitting next to a manager who has attempted to calm the buzz around the 18-year-old, was effusive about his teammate. “I think he’s maybe the best young player in the league,” he said. “He needs to improve in a few things but you can see the quality he has and he’s humble.”