Arsenal legend Ian Wright has opened up about the time a Gunners star sent him a rather disgruntled message over social media
Ian Wright speaks on Stick to Football
Ian Wright has opened up about an angry message he received from an Arsenal star(Image: Stick to Football)
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Ian Wright has revealed that former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette sent him an unhappy message after the pundit ridiculed his infamous scream during a clash with Burnley in 2021. Wright is a Gunners icon, but that hasn't stopped him from clashing with certain players at the club.
The 62-year-old has now offered fresh details about a disagreement he had with Lacazette five years ago. Back in March 2021, Arsenal made the trip to Turf Moor for a Premier League fixture and were locked at 1-1 in the second half when defender Erik Pieters lunged at Lacazette's ankle.
With the match taking place in a virtually empty stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions, the striker's prolonged, piercing scream reverberated around the venue.
The defender received a yellow card and despite the dramatic cry, Lacazette required no medical attention. Wright and his Match of the Day colleagues made light of the Frenchman's reaction on the BBC, which did not go down well with the player.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Wright said this month: "Remember Lacazette was at our place? He screamed. You could hear it and I kind of made a joke about it. He sent me a message in my DMs.
"It was about taking the mickey out of him screaming. I tried to be nice and it just got worse and worse. The screaming was something that I found funny. I never screamed. I wasn't afraid of anyone."
Erik Pieters of Burnley FC tackles Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Burnley and Arsenal at Turf Moor
Lacazette's scream was mocked by Wright and Co.(Image: Getty)
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David O'Leary joined Wright on the show and said: "The thing that drives me mad about the modern game is the way that players roll around. It's just unbelievable.
"I think we were up at Leeds United vs Arsenal during COVID. We'd look around, there were about 10 people in the stadium. The thing that shocked me at that time was how players rolled around screaming."
Wright, alongside fellow presenters Gary Lineker and Dion Dublin, took part in a sketch poking fun at Lacazette's infamous scream back in 2021. They rounded off an episode of Match of the Day doing their best impressions of him to a 'scream-o-meter', following Burnley manager Sean Dyche's post-match remarks.
This was most likely the dig that Lacazette took exception to and Wright subsequently issued an apology on the Wrighty's House podcast five years ago, saying: "The main thing here is that I got that wrong.
"It's only the screaming at the end. The fact is that screaming has always been a problem for me with the guys. Now we can hear it and we're talking about massive screams.
"To the point where you're thinking, 'Oh my God, something's wrong with this player!' This week it just happened to be Lacazette and, like I say, I got that wrong. What I did, when you see all the s*** that comes back... and in hindsight, of course the s*** is going to come back, especially with the fact it was an Arsenal player and it's me."