Newcastle United right-back Mathieu Debuchy has confirmed he is due to move to Arsenal and is a player Arsene Wenger will look to fill the void left by departing defender Bacary Sagna.
The 28 year old French international will set the Gunners back £11m and will sign a four year contract which may leave youngster Carl Jenkinson considering his future at his boyhood club though the indications are that the England man will look to fight the former Lille man for the first team berth.
Debuchy will be joined by his national team colleague Morgan Schneiderlin with Arsenal’s £15m bid likely to be accepted by a Southampton side who are struggling to retain their top talents following the exit of Mauricio Pochettino, who moved to take charge of Tottenham earlier this summer.
The 24 year old has been initially been seeking assurances from his south-coast side that funds from player sales would be re-invested in the squad, this at the point when Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw had moved to Liverpool and Man United respectively, however the subsequent exit of Adam Lallana to Anfield and the likely departure of centre-back Dejan Lovren has led to the former Strasbourg man demanding to leave the club he joined in June 2008.
Southampton are ready to allow Schneiderlin to leave out of respect for his six seasons at the club, during which he helped the St Mary’s side battle from League One to the top half of the Premier League.