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Arsenal have completed the signing of winger Leandro Trossard from Brighton, the club announced on Friday.
Sources told ESPN the Premier League leaders beat local rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea to the signature of the 28-year-old.
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Trossard becomes Arsenal’s first arrival during the January transfer window.
Arsenal had spent much of the window chasing Mykhailo Mudryk but he joined for Chelsea in a €100m deal instead from Shakhtar Donetsk.
At his news conference Friday, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he was hopeful that Trossard would be immediately available for Sunday’s home clash with Manchester United.
“We are really happy to have him,” Arteta said. “He’s a player we have followed for a while now. The opportunity came — we had the necessity to have a player in the frontline that is versatile enough to play in different positions.
“He knows the league, he has enough experience here and I think he can have an immediate impact in the team.
“We have to think short-term, but as well medium and long-term as well. He gives us all that.
“He’s a very intelligent player. When you look at his career and what he’s done in the last few years, he’s a player that fits our way of playing for sure. We’re happy to have him.”
“It is good work from everyone at the club to complete the signing of Leandro. He is a versatile player with high technical ability, intelligence and a great deal of experience in the Premier League and at international level,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said in a statement.
Trossard has seven goals in 16 Premier League games for Brighton so far this term — including a hat trick against Liverpool at Anfield in a 3-3 draw earlier this season.
The winger was also part of the Belgium squad at the 2022 World Cup but when he returned from international, his relationship soured with new Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi.
The Brighton manager said in a news conference on Friday: “I’m sorry for the last period because I prefer when people are clear, not when there is some different behaviours.
“But we will see. I think we are a good team, we can play well with Leo or without Leo.”