According to RMC, Mathieu Debuchy is expected to undertake a medical with Nice in the next 48 hours ahead of a permanent move.
The France international was left out of Arsenal’s squad for their pre-season tour of Australia and China so that he could focus on finding a new club.
The 31-year-old made just one appearance for the Gunners last season, lasting just 15 minutes against Bournemouth in November. The cameo pretty much summed up his time at the Emirates since he joined from Newcastle for a fee in the region of £10 million.
After a bright start, the player suffered two terrible injuries in his debut season, lost his place to Hector Bellerin and never really recovered his form or confidence. He’s been stuck in a gilded cage ever since with interested clubs unable or unwilling to pay his hefty wage packet.
After Arsene Wenger blocked a move to Manchester United in 2016, the player spent the second half of the season at Bordeaux. He had hoped to snatch a place in his country’s 2016 European Championship squad, but that never materialised.
Let’s hope for both parties that Mathieu is fit enough to make the move to Nice. He has the carrot of Champions League football waiting for him if he does; the French side play Ajax in a qualifier at the end of this month.
There’s no mention of a fee, which suggests we may be about to write-off a very expensive mistake to reduce our wage bill.
UPDATE: According to RMC, Nice are going to sign Christophe Jallet instead. Apparently, the 33-year-old Lyon right-back was always their first choice. Oh well.
Glad to see him go, for us and him.
Desperate to play first team football to get in the French squad but refused to budge on his six figure wage packet. Caught somewhere between petulance and greed. In the end he didn’t get his cake or eat it. Au revoir Mathieu.
It’s really Nice that he is joining
Apparently it was too Nice to be true.
Good luck to him.
Didn’t win many friends with his attitude but was seriously fucked by the injury gods – shame it didnt work out.
We fans weren’t nice to this guy. Nobody including Wenger wanted him to get the chance to even compete with Bellerin. The situation that he performs and perhaps be better than Bellerin is simply not wanted therefore don’t even give him any sort of chance.
Playing the comment here rather than the man. Your comment is bollocks mate. He was very unlucky to get banjaxed and that is all.
where are the gods of tits and wine?
Goodbye
Don’t think its fair to call him an expensive mistake. He could have fought harder for his place and whined a lot less but its not like he got injured on purpose.
No, Arnautovic did it on purpose.
And Holding took him out in style. The north remembers and takes no shit from white walkers.
Good move. At least he us showing ambition to leave. The same can’t be said for the likes of Jenkinson amongst others.
Eh?
Jenkison has turned down moves at decent clubs to pick up his wage at Arsenal. Could’ve gone to Palace in January.
I think that was more about him not wanting to be in a relationship battle when he was already trying to regain confidence and fitness.
Dunno where you’re getting your info from, as I’m pretty sure there was a point in Jan where Allardyce/Wenger said the sticking point was not wages.
Those relationship battles are just the worst…
It was down to money, it was very well publicised at the time.
Here’s a quote from Wenger
“He has to agree personal terms,” Wenger said of Jenkinson. “But at the moment, he has not managed to do that.”
Now how will Corporal Jenks get the wages he wanted for not playing for an entire season ? Was it a smart move turning down offfers ?
Wish we had sent him to ManU and he had sabotaged their season
Exquisite trolling from Debuchy, choosing to sign for a Champions League club. Honestly wish him all the best but Christ that’s ironic.
They probably have to have a certain number of French players and he’s relatively inexpensive and experienced for an older player who probably still has a fair bit to offer if allowed to grow again.
I don’t think it would be legal to have a requirement for French players (all EU citizens have to be treated the same). Someone like Bellerin counts as one of our homegrown players.
Let Nice get past Ajax first….
Yes this one looks genuine, unlike the other two rumours by RMC today (van Dijk and Dembélé) which are reheated stories from UK tabloids
Nice should probably mandate a “no Mohawk” clause in the contract.
Nice
Good luck to him. His attitude was questionable when he returned from injury the first time but this is a move that makes sense for both parties. Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t one of the injuries stem from when that Stoke mess Arnautovic pushed him into the advertising hoardings? Talk about bad luck.
Talk about Stokey cuntishness.
Calling him a mistake is a bit harsh! He was more a victim of circumstances in my opinion although the fact he didn’t want to stay and fight when he first for back to fitness didn’t sit well with me (as if my opinion matters! )
I wonder if Arnautovic realises that he pretty much ruined Debuchy’s career by unnecessarily pushing him into the advertising boards…
I think Rob Holding gave him a little reminder this season
I hope it’s a nice medical. Wouldn’t be fair on him if it was a nightmare.
”YOU PROMISED THIS MEDICAL WOULD BE NICE!!!! MY ARM IS NOT SUPPOSED TO TWIST THAT WAY!!!! AAAAH!!!”
I need friends…
Funny how things work out. I thought he was great when he first arrived but injury and competition completely changed his trajectory at Arsenal. For his sake I hope the move to Nice goes through and he prospers there.
Nice move for him
A good player but it all just came at the wrong time for him, as did the injuries. Shame his attitude has been so poor. I think he would have had a lot more game time if he had just shut up and worked hard.
Not sad to see him go but hope he has more luck on the injuries front at Nice.
Shame about the update!!!
Glad he’s finally leaving, his moaning was a real pain in the arse, although his injury made it possible for Hector to show himself. I guess u call it fortune for us, which was unfortunate for him though. Wish him all the best in the future.
That’s Nice to hear.
I think it’s a bit harsh to call him an expensive mistake. Nobody could have foreseen his injuries. He was damned unlucky really. When he signed I’m pretty sure most fans thought we’d picked up one of the best right backs in the league. It must have been pretty awful for him, stuck on the sidelines watching your big move turn into a nightmare whilst some rookie 19 year old took you place in the squad.
Good luck to the bloke.
I think people must remember, we buy players to enhance our squad. This lad was okay/good when he first arrived but things change. We improved our squad with better options (Bellerin for example – regardless of timeline) and therefore there must be a casualty. This guy is that casualty even if we all might think he should have been moved on many moons ago. The game changes, the squad changes. New blood becomes available. Old blood becomes exactly that. They then hang on to the contract they worked for and look after their own interests. It pains me to say… Read more »
I’m pretty sure that Wenger once said that he has never received an offer from united for him. So the story that he could have gone there if we weren’t so mean to him is just another fake story of a guy who really likes himself in the victim role. Hope we’ll be able to move him on finally. Yes he had bad luck with injuries but so had other players but his whining is second to none.
Deal is off as Nice couldn’t agree with his wage demands