Arsenal will meet with officials from Bordeaux this week as they look to re-sign Mathieu Debuchy on a permanent basis this summer.
When it comes to his future at Arsenal, the 30-year-old doesn’t really have much to smile about and a quick fix back to his home country would help both parties.
Sky Sports believe the French side are keen on getting the right-back in on a long-term basis, but a loan agreement would also settle their needs. The news originally comes from the reliable French source Le Parisien.
The Gunners will only want one thing though, and that’s to get the defender off of their books to make way for some of the younger talent to break through.
Youngsters Hector Bellerin and Calum Chambers already place above Debuchy in the pecking order and an exit from the Emirates looks to be his only way to get first team football.
With three years still to run on his contract there’s also a chance for Arsene Wenger to get a nice price for the defender, but ultimately a quick and easy sale will suit him.
Bordeaux provides Debuchy with familiar territory following his loan spell last season, and although injury cast a shadow over his playing time, he was a big hit.
Nine league appearances from January was already seven more than he picked up at Arsenal in 2015/16 so a move is inevitable this transfer window.
We caught a rare glimpse of Debuchy in an Arsenal shirt during the 1-1 draw with Lens last week, which was enough of an indication that his time is up.
Working on the right hand side with Theo Walcott for company was never going to end well, but Debuchy looked tired throughout, failing to adopt the Arsenal way.
It’s going to be difficult to make money on the Frenchman though; Wenger paid £12m for him back in 2014 and since then he’s made just 22 appearances. I would estimate that the Gunners will accept a bid in the region of £4million for the Frenchman.
It will now be interesting to see who Arsenal replace Debuchy with. They could look internally, with Calum Chambers and Carl Jenkinson both options – but with both players being linked with a move away, could a new signing possibly replace him? Chambers could reportedly join Watford on loan and play in a 3-5-2 formation under their new manager whilst Jenkinson looks unlikely to remian with Arsenal.
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