Arsenal: Catching up with the January exits
By Devin Nguyen
Mathieu Debuchy to Saint-Etienne (Free transfer)
It was a torrid time for Mathieu Debuchy at Arsenal and he is looking to “have fun on the field” again. Plagued by injuries, Debuchy was quickly supplanted by HĂ©ctor BellerĂn in the starting lineup. Since then, he made few appearances, restricted to playing in EFL Cup and Europa League matches. He finally got his move this January to Saint-Etienne after Arsenal terminated his contract so he could move to the French club for free.
Debuchy has made four starts at right-back, completing the full 90 minutes in each of them, and has gotten off to a great start, scoring a goal in his début against Amiens. This past weekend, he scored his second goal of the season against Lyon, Saint-Étienne’s local rivals, equalizing late to earn his team the draw.
Saint-Etienne were busy in January, signing Neven Subotic, Yann M’Vila and Paul-Georges Ntep as well, and hopefully, for Debuchy’s sake, he can maintain fitness and complete the rest of the season as Saint-Étienne’s regular right-back, continuing to perform at a high level.