Arsenal has been contacted by Ligue 1 side, AS Saint-Étienne over a transfer move for out of favour right-back, Mathieu Debuchy. The 32-year-old has featured in only 8 games this season and in total just 30 for Arsenal ever since his arrival in the summer of 2014. Debuchy last appeared for the North London side in the 4-2 loss to Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup.
Debuchy’s career under Arsene Wenger mostly turned sour due to injury concerns which prevented him from getting a favourable run of games. The Frenchman’s short one-and-a-half year stint with Newcastle United impressed Wenger who signed him to replace the very talented Bacary Sagna.
Saint Etienne will be a nice recourse for the gritty defender who still has a lot of football left in him. However, his departure will raise a few concerns at a club who have the worst defensive record amongst the top six clubs of the Premier League.
Arsene Wenger has fallen in love with the 3 back formation and has converted players like Nacho Monreal and Debuchy to makeshift centre-backs. Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have been delegated to the wingback position and a versatile fullback is now more than necessary to provide the squad with some depth.
Wenger should consider a few options outside of the Premier League.
Almamy Toure
Toure is a product of the AS Monaco academy and has been quietly making himself known in the French League. With 9 Ligue 1 and 3 Champions League appearances, Toure has managed to get 4 assists to his name. Decent numbers for a player receiving very limited minutes on the pitch behind the first choice right back, Djibril Sidibe.
Huddersfield Town have already been alerted by the 21-year-old’s capabilities and are looking to launch a bid of €18m.
Joel Veltman
Veltman is versatile defender representing both Ajax and the Dutch National Team. Veltman has been a staple in Ajax’s defence featuring at both the centre-back and right-back position for the last four years. Specifically, the last two seasons have seen him draw a heavy workload from the Dutch giants.
He notched forty-four appearances, including nine in Europe, in 2015-16, while also playing in forty-three matches — thirteen of which were in Europe in 2016-17. He was a starter in Ajax’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in the 2017 Europa League final.
Tottenham Hotspur were linked with the 25-year-old in the summer after the departure of Kyle Walker from the club.
Sime Vrsaljko
The Croatian arrived at Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2016 but has just featured in 11 games for the club this season. Liverpool and Napoli are already invested in the out of favour 25-year-old and Wenger can definitely make a strong case by coming in with a higher bid.
