London. — Arsenal have agreed a deal with Brighton to sign forward Leandro Trossard; the Belgium international told the Seagulls he wants to leave in January following breakdown in relationship with head coach Roberto De Zerbi; the 28-year-old has six months left on existing Brighton deal
The agreed fee is an initial £20m plus add-ons — it could reach £27m.
Trossard is now expected to have a medical and finalise personal terms with the Premier League leaders.
If the Belgian international is registered by midday on Friday, he will be available to play in the Gunners’ match against Manchester United on Sunday
The Gunners have been looking for a new attacker and missed out on Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who moved to Chelsea in a deal worth £85m.
Trossard has entered the final six months of his contract at Brighton, but the Seagulls had the option of extending his existing deal by a further year.
Tottenham had an offer rejected for Trossard, and are instead pursuing Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo.
Brighton did not want to sell one of their star players unless chairman Tony Bloom’s valuation was met, despite the 28-year-old’s public demands to leave the club.
“This is a good deal for both clubs. As far as Arsenal are concerned, they walked away from the deal for Mudyrk and now sign someone who has got Premier League experience.
“This is a less risky signing than Mudryk, although I think he will turn out to be a fantastic signing for Chelsea.
“Brighton are getting big money for a player they signed around three-and-a-half years ago for £15m. He’s 28 now and was unhappy at Brighton.
“I don’t think they’re going to miss him that much because they’ve got Mitoma, who has been in absolutely incredible form over the past couple of months.”
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi first confirmed Trossard would not be in the Albion squad for the visit of Liverpool last week after exhibiting a poor attitude in training.
The 28-year-old has not played for the Seagulls since the 4-2 defeat to Premier League leaders Arsenal on New Year’s Eve and now he says he will not sign a new deal with the club.
A statement released by Trossard’s agent Josy Comhair read: “Before Leandro left for Qatar, it was Brighton’s intention to extend his contract, this did not happen as parties did not reach an agreement. Leandro has also indicated he is ready for his next step.
“After the World Cup there was an altercation at training between Leandro and another player over an inanity. Since then, the trainer has not spoken to Leandro, which is obviously not conducive to the atmosphere, as well as performance-wise.
“Leandro still was a first-eleven player against Southampton and Arsenal but against Everton he was on the bench. In the five substitutions that took place then, he was also not among them and this is without any explanation.
“In the run-up to the match against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, Leandro had already reported calf problems twice.
“This was the reason he stopped training. This was in consultation with the medical staff.
“Through the physical trainer, Leandro learned that he had to train separately. Last Monday the trainer then grounded Leandro in the group and indicated that he did not want to see him anymore.
“A trainer who has not communicated directly with his player for four weeks is truly incomprehensible.
“It is also the trainer who has indicated several times that a transfer is the most reasonable solution.
“It is therefore important that Brighton cooperates with a potential transfer, which is beneficial for both parties.”— SkySports.
