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Defender Agrees Arsenal Switch, Move Should Be Wrapped-Up Next Week

By mac14 on July 18, 2015

Yet more talk about Faouzi Ghoulam joining Arsenal coming from Spain today as Marca claim the full-back has agreed to make the move to North London and a deal should be wrapped-up in the next week.

Ghoulam has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal in recent weeks with English, Italian and Spanish media outlets all claiming that we’ve been in talks with Napoli over a potential €12m deal.

Marca have been one of the more vocal publications as they tie it in with Nacho Monreal’s proposed move to Athletic Bilbao, with the Spanish daily suggesting that Monreal will head back to his homeland once Ghoulam completes his switch to the Emirates.

The newspaper has once again ran a story today with Marca claiming that Ghoulam has now agreed to join Arsenal and with an agreement between the two clubs understood to be close, they suggest a deal should be concluded next week.

Who knows how much truth there is behind Marca’s latest article but there does appear to be something in this Monreal-Ghoulam story after-all.

I’ve said for weeks that I’d be surprised if Nacho left this summer but he has just one year left on his deal and with no sign of an extension being signed, it looks like he could-well leave – despite the fact he ended last season as our No.1 left-back.

Ghoulam has emerged as the most likely replacement and the Algerian international has been hugely impressive since joining Napoli 18 months ago, leading to reported interest from the likes of Chelsea and Real Madrid, as well as ourselves of course.

But it seems we could now be closing in on a deal for the 24-year-old left-back with his arrival expected to see Monreal then complete a move to Bilbao.

I’ll be sad to see Nacho leave as he’s a solid and dependable member of the squad, but Ghoulam is an exciting young full-back who should really push Gibbs for the starting berth next season.