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Arsenal On Verge Of Completing First Summer Signing – Reports
According to reports coming of France today, Arsenal are close to sealing a deal to sign Newcastle United right-back Mathieu Debuchy.
With Bacary Sagna off to Manchester City, obviously we need a right-back this summer and despite being linked with the likes of Serge Aurier, Callum Chambers and Seamus Coleman, it appears Debuchy has emerged as the most likely target.
Newspapers have suggested Arsene Wenger has been giving serious consideration to bidding for the 28-year-old but it looks like we might actually already to closing in on his signature as French-based outlet Infosport+ claimed earlier on Monday that a deal is imminent.
They announced the news on their Twitter feed:
Mathieu DEBUCHY (Newcastle) sur le point de s'engager avec ARSENAL. Il y remplacera Bacary SAGNA parti à Man.City (@infosportplus )
— infosport+ (@infosportplus) June 30, 2014
Roughly translated, it says ‘Mathieu Debuchy is about to sign for Arsenal to replace Man City-bound Bacary Sagna.
Infosport+ are understood to be pretty reliable, so it looks like we’re on the verge of completing our first major signing of the summer. No fee is mentioned here, but the Telegraph are reporting that Newcastle are looking for around £12m.
Debuchy is currently over in Brazil where he’s Didier Deschamps first choice right-back for France, keeping Sagna out the team, so you’d expect that any deal may be agreed in principal but won’t be officially completed until after the World Cup.
If this deal does come off, it will be an interesting decision by the boss to opt for an older defender instead of going with a youngster like Aurier. Debuchy is almost 29, so perhaps the feeling at the club is to get an experienced full-back in for a couple of years before Carl Jenkinson can take over.
I love Jenks as he’s a proper Gooner but I don’t think he’s ready to command the first team shirt just yet, so it’s a sensible move to bring in someone like Debuchy who he can continue to learn from for a couple of years and hopefully Jenkinson would have progressed enough to take over.
Let’s see how things progress this week but I’d be more than happy if Debuchy comes to the club and it would be a solid start to our summer business.
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