Arsenal have agreed a £27m deal for Brighton forward Leandro Trossard.
Belgium star Trossard, 28, is set to undergo a medical on Thursday night after agreeing a contract of up to five years at the Emirates. Arsenal hope to announce the deal on Friday and have the deal completed in time for him to be in the squad to face Manchester United on Sunday - with the deadline to be registered by 12pm on Friday.
It is a major coup for Arsenal who beat off interest from North London rivals Tottenham and have got a cut price deal, although Brighton will feel they have got a good price.
Trossard’s contract was running down - even though Brighton had a 12-month option to extend this summer - and he was pushing to leave in this window.
It is a major coup for Arsenal who have now bolstered their squad after missing out on Ukraine star Mykhailo Mudryk who joined Chelsea in a £90m move.
Arsenal are determined to strengthen their squad in this window to give manager Mikel Arteta more depth and options to maintain their title push.
How many goals will Leandro Trossard score for Arsenal this season? Comment here
Trossard is viewed as being Premier League-ready, can slot immediately into Arsenal’s squad and will bring goals as well as being an alternative on the flanks.
Arsenal are still in the market for more deals because Arteta has been balancing a thin squad all season and the club view Trossard as the first in a window which could boost their push to win their first Premier League title in 19 years.
Trossard almost joined the Gunners four years ago. In an interview before the World Cup back in November, Trossard’s agent, Josy Comhair, revealed to HUMO that Arsenal travelled to Belgium no less than four times for private transfer talks in a bid to persuade him to join them instead of Brighton when he was at Genk back in 2019.
Comhair said: "[Graham] Potter came to Brussels, especially for Leandro. With an extensive PowerPoint presentation to convince him. He absolutely wanted him. There were other options. In the same period, I had several conversations with Arsenal. They came to Belgium four times.
"I'll give you a note: most players would have chosen Arsenal. But what would have happened if Leandro didn't get to play? Then there is only one way out: to take a step back.
"People don't realise what that does in someone's head. I know Leandro: bench him three times and he goes wild. So, we turned it around: if he does well at Brighton, he doesn't have to back down, he can take a step forward. Didn't we get it right?"
