According to Belgian reporter Sacha Tavolieri, Arsenal hold an interest in Leicester City’s Timothy Castagne.
The 27-year-old Belgium international has been on the books at the King Power for three years having previously played for Italian side Atalanta and boyhood club Genk.
Since moving to England, Castagne has been a near ever-present in the Leicester starting lineup. He’s made a total of 112 appearances, making eight assists and scoring five goals.
Tavolieri reports that the defender is a potential alternative to first-choice signing Ivan Fresneda, Real Valladolid’s 19-year-old, with whom we were linked in January.
🚨🔴 #ArsenalFC now going for Timothy #Castagne ! Considered as
a number 2 target behind I.Fresneda for the right-back position, #AFC started the talks with #LeicesterCity in order to find a deal for the #DiablesRouges.
I understand things could develop quickly.
⏳ Wait & See. pic.twitter.com/gwY2KmIMTh— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) June 11, 2023
It’s no secret that Mikel Arteta and Edu are keen to strengthen at right-back having heavily relied on Ben White over the last 10 months. The situation is all the more pressing given Takehiro Tomiyasu is working his way back from a serious knee injury (and will likely head to the Asian Cup in January) and Cedric Soares and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are set to leave the club.
Like compatriot Leandro Trossard, Castagne, who can play on both sides of defence, played for Arsenal’s assistant coach Albert Stuivenberg during his short time in charge of Genk in 2017.
News of our interest in Castagne comes 24 hours after it was confirmed that Youri Tielemans, Leicester’s captain, has opted to join Aston Villa on a free. The midfielder was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal this time last year.
One comforting thing here is that he is the second option, all second options have been a success under Mikel i.e Jesus, Zinny, Trossard
To compete with City (and perhaps a rejuvenated Liverpool next season) we will need two plan A’s next year, not plan B. Castagne is okay but I don’t think he can fight for a place with White. Even Tomiyasu couldn’t and he is way better than Castagne. We need competition for places not back ups who are just happy to be back ups. Seems like a player’s agent with connection to some home town journalist trying to get his player’s value up and facilitate a move away from a relegated club.
Off topic, Manchester City was charged last season with breaking financial fair play rules around 100 times over a nine-year period.
Media are corrupt, wouldn’t put their win in context.
By the way, why banning Ivan Toney for eight months and allowing cheats to win the effing treble?
Because for as much as most of us dislike Man City the charges against them remain to be confirmed. I’m sure you’re not saying anyone should be convicted before they’ve been proven guilty.
You don’t rack up that many charges by accident. It takes deliberate calculation by the guilty party knowing their infractions will be punished lightly and the benefits of cheating outweigh the penalties- you may have heard of this phenomenon before, it’s called regulatory capture.
Over 100 charges Emi. Not light charges either. We’re talking fraud. Decisions were made that allowed them to be in the position they are in now at the expense of everyone else. Cheating and corruption. They have already been charged of most of these things and if it wasn’t for expensive lawyers finding loopholes/uefa incompetence they wouldn’t have been able to win the CL this year. One or two charges, I could accept. 115? Thats a lot of smoke.
Yes, and when that’s established by an investigation or a court I hope every footballing authority throws the book at them so hard they never come back. Before that they are as innocent until proven guilty as anyone else living in a rule of law society. Anything else is Putin’s Russia or the oppressive state who owns City.
I get that Emi, Ideally we all want the justice system to be followed. However we also live in a society where if you are rich and powerful enough, you are seemingly above punishment. I think that’s what most people fear in this scenario. you are innocent until proven guilty although exploiting loopholes with expensive lawyers does not make you innocent.
Yes but it’s still no reason to make things worse by doing away with the rule of law. The absence of it is what makes Abu Dhabi the terrible country it is which in turn is a major reason for disliking Man City. To emulate that makes us just as bad and it solves nothing.
Why did Man City suspend Benjamin Mendy when charged and why didn’t they get him back when found innocent so far? Not that I think that Mendy doesn’t deserve what is happening to him just confronting arguments.
I don’t know and I don’t care either. I care about City being relegated and stripped of their titles after the charges have been proven. They’ll have no way back after that.
Some people, billionaires, don’t believe or act in accordance with the rule of law when it’s applied to them, so they can get in the sea. Nothing the owners of city have was obtained ethically (and that goes the same for the kroenkes, they can also get into the sea). Billionaires actively harm you and me and deserve nothing hut derision and obstruction.
What relevance does that hold over the need for the charges against City to be confirmed before punishing them?
They are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not in the court of public opinion. If I were the one deciding their fate, yes they would be innocent until the case against them were proven. But I’m not, I’m a football fan. So I can look at the number and severity of the charges, and everything else we already know about how city operate, and say those fu@$ers are guilty.
Not the original point. The original point was this:
“By the way, why banning Ivan Toney for eight months and allowing cheats to win the effing treble?”
Because Toney is guilty the system should just skip the process and find Man City guilty too. That what Heavenly Moanbags is saying. Only a fucking idiot who doesn’t understand the wider implications would say that.
Rich football club owners don’t deserve your charitable interpretation of the law while they are destroying the planet and the social safety net with their every action.
It’s not charitable. It’s the most effective one because it’s correct.
Not just one accident either, not one mistake, but over 100 times. That’s deliberate.
Exactly so let’s get it confirmed officially once and for all and have City relegated and stripped of all honours for the proven frauds they’ll be.
Ivan Toney pleaded guilty to his charges and scored an offside equaliser against us denying us a win. He should have been suspended as soon as he admitted guilt, we all knew he was going to receive a lengthy ban.
Whilst Man City, like it or not deny any guilt
Plus, if it wasn’t for clumsy Lukaku, Inter could have won. Unlike what the press is saying Man City are beatable.
Anybody heard Henry say: “Everybody knows I don’t support City but I wanted Pep to win it”?
No sir, we don’t even know if you support Arsenal. I used to get mad at anybody who criticizes Henry but that was before.
😀
Sounds solid.
Can surely do a job & diffucult getting a quality backup anyways
This is will be fine if it gets done for > £10m.
But I’ve been hearing £20-25m and, for me, that’s nuts.
He’ll have no sell on value, we are the only suitors and Leicester have been relegated.
Please let’s not go Cedric on this. He should be a cheap and cheerful backup, nothing more and nothing less.
Watching Jack Wilshere running England midfield in Soccer Aid I think he could still do a job somewhere!
Tesco?
You do know that both teams are made up of women and minor celebrities?
I get so sad when I read something like this, imagining what could’ve been, the career he could’ve had
Jack running tge midfield against top class opposition, in Soccer Aid
Solid squad option for RB/LB
I hope Arteta and co. are also taking into consideration Brook Norton-Cuffy.
I think he will be a hell of a player.
As long as he’s better than Cedric…He is right? RIGHT???
I wonder if this may be one way of showing Cedric the door? “You might be tempted to stay because of your good salary, and there’s not much we can do about that, but please know that you won’t get a minute on the field.”
He’s taller than Cedric.
£60 mill to Chelsea then
You forgot to add the 25-year contract.
heh
He was excellent in his first season. 2nd season, I believe he was injured for a while. Haven’t seen much of him last season.
If we were to get the first season Castagne, I’d be happy with him as backup.
If Tierney leaves, maybe Tomi will be one of two left backs
Adaptability is key to the depth of this squad. If Castagne can do a job as either fullback, as Takihiro can, then great, let’s get him in.
A lot of moving parts. A lot depends on Tomiyasu’s fitness, whether Tierney leaves (as we all expect, but don’t know), how Arteta rates Kiwior, who we get for the midfield. Caicedo for example played at right fullback, pretty well from what I saw, in Brighton’s run-in.
Like most fans, I trust Arteta and Edu to get it right. Not every move has been perfect, but they know what they are trying to do and have a good sense (much better than me) of who can do it.
“they know what they are trying to do and have a good sense (much better than me) of who can do it”
Such an apt comment. I also assume that the Arsenal staff just might know a thing or two I don’t, given they spend a portion of nearly every day with the players and have made football their life work.
I guess it depends where he also sees Ben White’s position next season. I can’t see White being happy being 2nd choice to Saliba and Gabby but he might cope with rotation and injuries. But if playing Rb, then I can’t see Castagne joining if we have White, Tomi already at RB and Zinchenko, Tierney and Tovares for LB?
If Tierney is leaving, and we’re searching for right backs but no news of looking for left backs, would that suggest Mikel and team are confident in Tomiyasu covering left back, or do you think we will look for left back cover?
A decent signing if he comes in. Can provide solid defensive cover. But James Maddison would get me excited: he’s Leicester’s best player. BTW: what’s the latest on Declan Rice? It’s all gone Quiet. And Caicedo? Depressing watching City win the CL, wasn’t it? It’s amazing what you can do with unlimited money; especially when you take the piss out of FFP and just cook the books. Even though I loathe Man United, I have to admit their treble will always be far superior: they didn’t just buy it. Ferguson built a squad from the bottom that contained lots of… Read more »
Man City won the CL?
Yeah, it didn’t get much coverage.
I’ll have you know that I still can’t sleep after 1999……. The flukiest treble of all times, and worse, achieved while Ferguson was at the wheel.
And talking of Jack…. The final straw was on the end of a disgusting challenge by mc Nair, guess what, who did he play for then before they decided to replace him with real CB talent?
Let’s go out there next season and right a few wrongs
Since you brought it up . . . the following screed is not really in reply to you, though, but to everyone. I do not agree with wage caps for players. UEFA President Cerefin is giving in to “the big clubs” with that proposal. It is the surest sign UEFA is being squeezed by the pressure of the threat of a new “super league” rival to its cash cow. Right now, the Champions League revenue is by far the most money received by any governing body and the reason UEFA has so much power vis-a-vis FIFA. Cerefin is preparing to… Read more »
Oh, those poor basketball players earning 40 million dollars a year! I feel so sorry for them!
You mean feel jealous of them. They would be worth more than that if the market for their skills was not distorted by the cartel of owners colluding to keep their salaries down.
Wasn’t Leicester City’s defensive shambles the main reason they were relegated?
The transfer market hasn’t even opened yet and we are already looking at 2nd or 3rd choices.
Admittedly this is just media speculation but still..
One good thing is that we are tying down our best players with new contracts, which is great.
I think Leicester’s relegation is one of those rare occasions where the old cliche about “too good to go down” (including their defenders) was true. Then how come they went down? I think the ownership lost the team, including the manager, early on (the way a manager loses the dressing room). Rogers made comments about failing to bring in players and it wasn’t the usual stuff that managers often say; it sounded like he was honestly hoping to be sacked as soon as possible. Maybe that’s why they could not defend set pieces (where, I’m pretty sure, they were by… Read more »
That’s what we need a defender that just got relegated- it is only a rumour though 😕
Again just rumours but I heard Rice has said he’s not leaving West Ham – actually I’m not bothered about that at all 🙂
Were you one of the ppl that thought Ramsdale would be shit just because he arrived from a relegated club?
Not massively invested in this rumour either way but you’ve gotta admit that’s a dumb reason not to sign someone.
Why does this site always display “waiting for approval” waste of time posting on here
And authorises this. Ridiculous.
Funnily enough the same happens to me, not sure why as I don’t post anything particularly controversial!!
It’s the VAR of the forums world.
I might be wrong but I think it’s to do with the type of email address you’ve used. Some sites (not sure if it applies here) have a whitelist and certain types of email address are auto added other aren’t
Does anyone else think of Seinfeld when you hear this guy’s name? And especially the bit where George talks about his teacher calling him “Can’tStandYa”
just commented the same, not just me then
Whenever the commentators say his name, my Seinfeld-induced tourettes comes out – Costanza’s gym teacher instead of saying his name properly – he’d say “Can’t stand ya.”
I’d love Fresneda, he has the body of a 29 yr old world class athlete as an 18 yr old. But this is a sensible alternative. The few times I’ve noticed him he seems best going forward. Could give us something different to White in group games and the cups.
I’ll be honest and say I don’t know anything about him. I hope this isn’t replacing Cedric with another Cedric. Seems a bit underwhelming but maybe a gem hiding in plain sight, we’ll see.