Arsenal have ruined Marseille’s transfer plans after agreeing a deal to sign Brighton forward Leandro Trossard, according to reports.
The Belgium international recently fell out with Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi in an incident which saw him banished from first-team training.
Trossard’s agent even accused the Seagulls boss of “bullying” his client but De Zerbi recently hit back at those accusations.
He said: “Nothing serious happened with Trossard. But recently, he didn’t give 100 per cent in training and on matchday, that’s it on my side.
“Football deserves respect. I don’t have to apologise for anything.”
De Zerbi added: “Maybe his agent fancies selling him for a lower transfer fee… surely, Trossard didn’t tell me the truth.
“Everyone in the dressing room knows how things went. But if Trossand wants to rejoin us with the right attitude, I am happy to coach him.”
And yesterday news broke that Arsenal had agreed a fee for the 28-year-old with reports now claiming he will undergo a medical today.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on his YouTube channel, he said: “Arsenal have been really fast. Imagine that Arsenal in 24 hours completed everything with Brighton and the player. They wanted to be really strong, really fast on the deal.
“What happened? The first contact was two days ago. Then Arsenal decided to make an opening bid to Brighton. Brighton said ‘no’ and turned down the opening proposal before the second bid was the right one.
“£25m total package but including add-ons. So it’s around £21m guaranted plyus £4-5m in add-ons. So, agreement completed for this package between Arsenal and Brighton.
“During the afternoon, the agreement with the player was really fast but Trossard had some other opportunities. In France and in England but he only wanted Arsenal. He immediately said ‘yes’ to Arsenal when they called him, when Mikel Arteta also had a conversation with the player.
“Trossard was super happy about this possibility and so agreement really fast. And we can say that Trossard, after medical tests on Friday in London, will become new Arsenal player.
“His contract will be until June 2026, so a three-and-a-half year deal for Leandro Trossard.”
And French newspaper L’Equipe claim that the Ligue 1 club that Romano mentions is Marseille with the French giants ‘overtaken’ by Arsenal in the race for Trossard.
Marseille were ‘keen’ to sign Trossard in the January transfer window with the Ligue 1 side making the attacker their ‘priority’ but a last-minute swoop from Arsenal has now ruined their plans.
It is understood that Marseille have been talking to the player’s representatives for ‘several weeks’ but the Gunners have the ‘financial resources’ to beat them to his signature.
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