Arsenal have confirmed the signing of right-back Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle United following the departure of Bacary Sagna who left after seven years service to the club.

Arsenal have been on the verge of signing the Frenchman for a couple of weeks now and have finally moved in on their man. The French full-back will be joining Chilean star winger, Alexis Sanchez who joined after a very successful World Cup in Brazil.

Reports are suggesting that the only reason the deal took so long to be announced was that Newcastle United asked the London based club to hold off on sealing the deal to allow them to sign a replacement. Newcastle have confirmed the signing Daryl Janmaat for £12 million at the same time as Arsena;'s announcement of Debuchy.

Even prior to the departure of Sagna to Manchester City, Arsenal were in need of a new right-back due to Sagna reaching the age of 31 and younger right-back Carl Jenkinson not truly being title contending calibre. Manager Arsene Wenger identified Mathieu Debuchy as being a vital target, since the beginning of the transfer window and was reportedly in Brazil not only to enjoy the tournament, but also to look Debuchy in action.

During the World Cup, Debuchy played four out of five games. Only missing one game which was against Ecuador in the final group game. Debuchy played every minute of the four games he played in, but had a fairly average World Cup with no goals or assists going forward. But where it counted, the defensive side of the game, Debuchy did not make a major defensive error during the four games. Last season for Newcastle he made 29 league appearances for the Magpies, starting 28 of them. For 24 of the 29 league games he completed the entire game.

With this signing, Arsenal have got themselves an energetic full-back who can contribute going forwards but also is solid defensively. He will work well with wingers such as Walcott and ‘The Ox’ who are extremely dangerous when going forward but who are also willing to get back, giving Debuchy cover for when he wants to bomb forwards.

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