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Chief Confirms £6.2m Star Almost Joined Arsenal, Player Was In London To Seal Move

Schalke chief Christian Heidel has confirmed new signing Hamza Mendyl almost joined Arsenal before completing his move from Lille last week

The Premier League transfer window may be closed but European clubs can still buy from English teams and managers are planning for the future so we’ll bring you all the latest gossip. Today, Hamza Mendyl almost joined Arsenal

Schalke chief Christian Heidel has confirmed new signing Hamza Mendyl almost joined Arsenal before completing his move from Lille last week, according to Goal.

Unai Emery was reportedly scouring the market for a new left-back during the final days of the summer transfer window after Sead Kolasinac was ruled out for two months with a knee injury while Nacho Monreal has also been carrying his own knee problem in recent weeks.

We were linked with AC Milan defender Ricardo Rodriguez but the Switzerland international decided to stay in Italy and it’s now emerged that Arsenal also made a play to sign highly-rated Lille left-back Mendyl.

The 20-year-old youngster broke in to the Ligue 1 clubs first team seat-up last season and made 13 appearances before being named in the Moroccan squad for this summers World Cup finals in Russia.

It appears his potential also caught the attention of Arsenal scouts as Goal claim Mendyl travelled to London during the closing stages of the window to complete a proposed move to the Emirates only for work permit problems to scupper the deal.

Arsenal failed to sign a new left-back before the window slammed shut and Mendyl ended up joining Schalke in a £6.2m deal [source: GFFN] last week, and the Bundesliga clubs sporting director has now admitted the player would have joined Arsenal if it wasn’t for the work permit issues.

When asked about the work permit complications, Heidel is quoted as saying by Goal:

“I think otherwise he would have gone to Arsenal,”

So it looks like Arsenal narrowly missed out on signing Mendyl earlier this month and we’re now left stretched at left-back as Ainsley Maitland-Niles has joined Kolasinac on the sidelines after being ruled out for 2 months with a fractured leg.

Monreal has since returned to full fitness and played the full 90 minutes during Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Chelsea but we better hope the Spaniard stays fit over the coming months otherwise we’re going to be in trouble at left-back.

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