Defender Set For Medical After Confirming Arsenal Move On TV

The summer transfer window is now open for business and it’s expected to be a busy few weeks as managers strengthen their squads ahead of next season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Mathieu Debuchy confirms he’s joining Arsenal.

Mathieu Debuchy is set to undergo a medical after confirming he’s joining Arsenal on French TV last night with a €10m fee believed to have been agreed with Newcastle, according to reports today.

Debuchy has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal in recent weeks with Arsene Wenger on the look out for a replacement for Bacary Sagna – who joined Manchester City on a free transfer last month.

A deal appeared to be getting closer as reports in French newspaper L’Equipe claimed on Friday that we had agreed a €10m (£8m) fee with Newcastle for the 28-year-old right-back, although the figure could rise to nearer €12m with additional performance-based add ons.

And now the player himself has confirmed he’s set for a move to the Emirates after telling a reporter from French television channel TF1 last night that he’s set to join Arsenal. When quizzed about his future after France’s 1-0 loss to Germany last night, Debuchy said:

‘Yes, I will be joining Arsenal for next season,’ Debuchy is quoted as saying by the Metro.

The Metro claim that with France now out of the World Cup, the defender is expected to head back to the UK to undergo a medical ‘in the coming days’ before officially being unveilled as our first major signing of the summer.

These reports come after Debuchy removed ‘Newcastle United player’ from his Twitter bio last week, and the newspaper suggests that Alan Pardew is eyeing Daryl Janmaat or Micah Richard’s as potential replacements, so it certainly seems like it’s only a matter of time before we have our Sagna replacement on board.

The reported £8m fee seems like an excellent deal for a player of Debuchy’s quality and with 18 months Premier League experience under his belt, he knows what English football is all about.

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While some would have preferred to see a young, more exciting addition like Serge Aurier come in, Debuchy is a far less risky proposition and with him approaching his 29th birthday, he won’t pose a long-term threat to the development of Carl Jenkinson and Hector Bellerin at right back.