French International defender Mathieu Debuchy has completed his move to Arsenal…
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Arsenal have completed the signing of Newcastle United’s French international defender Mathieu Debuchy, who will cost the North London club around £12m.
The 28-year-old, who joined Newcastle from Lille in January 2013, played 46 games for the Magpies, regularly impressing with his performances at right-back.
Arsene Wenger has been desperate to find a replacement for long-time full-back Bacary Sagna, who has moved to Manchester City, and has now secured his first-choice target after several weeks of negotiations.
Newcastle held out on rubber stamping the sale until they had captured a suitable replacement, which they have now done with their £5m signing of Feyenoord and Holland defender Daryl Janmaat.
“We are delighted to welcome Mathieu Debuchy to Arsenal Football Club,” said Wenger to the official Arsenal website.
“He has shown he can perform at the highest level with his club sides and also for France. He is a quality defender who has good Premier League experience and I’m confident he will fit in very well with us.”
“I’m very proud to be joining a great club like Arsenal and to wear its colours,” Debuchy added.
“It’s one of the biggest clubs in the whole world. I’m looking forward to working with Arsène Wenger and to helping the team build on last season’s FA Cup success.
“Playing again in the Champions League is a big excitement for me and I will do my best to help Arsenal compete for trophies.”
Debuchy becomes the second new signing at the Emirates Stadium this summer, following on from Wenger’s £35m capture of Barcelona’s Alexis Sanchez. Reports suggest that the duo will soon be joined by goalkeeper David Ospina, who is poised to move to North London from Nice.
French newspaper Nice Matin says the Ligue 1 club have accepted a £3.2million bid from the Gunners, with the deal set to be done in the next few days.
Arsenal have been following Ospina for the last few months but Arsene Wenger was convinced by his ability after the 25-year-old sparkled for Colombia at the World Cup. An agile shot stopper with brilliant reflexes, Ospina was available on the cheap after rejecting a new contract at Nice last season.
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