As The Pitch Prospect has learned, Al Ittihad made a £30 million bid for Arsenal star Leandro Trossard on deadline day.
The team from Saudi Arabia wants to strengthen its attack and secured the Belgian striker shortly before the transfer window closes on Monday.
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Trossard, who has two years left on his contract at the Emirates, has established himself as a key player since joining from Brighton in January 2023.
In 71 games in all competitions for the Gunners, he contributed 19 goals and 12 assists.
However, he was never a guaranteed starter as coach Mikel Arteta alternated him with Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing.
Trossard is entering his third season in north London and has only made 29 appearances in the Premier League so far.
And his frustration at the lack of playing time was evident when he came on as a substitute in last month’s match against Aston Villa and put his team ahead, eventually leading to a 2-0 away win.
Moments after coming on, he fired a low shot past Emiliani Martinez, who refused to celebrate, with fans quickly pointing out that this was a message to Arteta.
His reaction came after he started the first two top games of the new season from the dugout.
Arteta himself admitted that the player was “annoyed” by his lack of starting appearances, saying: “When you are not selected, there are certain ways you react.”
“Leo is upset. He is upset because he wants to show how good he is on the pitch. He is not upset because he is not playing.
“And that’s a great quality. If you put him in the starting line-up, he does exactly the same thing and that’s a great example for the rest of the team.”
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The player is already battling with Martinelli for a place in the starting line-up, and after the Chelsea player arrived on loan, he is now also competing with Raheem Sterling.
However, it seems unlikely that Arsenal would approve of Trossard’s departure, as it would leave the team incredibly weak at the top of the table.
Thanks to his versatility, Trossard was able to play in all three positions under Arteta.
And with Arsenal sending striker Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace and winger Reiss Nelson on loan to Fulham, Arsenal cannot afford to lose any more strikers.
The Gunners will be looking to compete on all four fronts both domestically and in Europe this season and also have further Champions League games planned.
Arteta knows he needs to have a squad strong enough to cope and losing Trossard would severely damage the club’s chances of winning their first league title since 2004.
However, they would have to wait until the reopening in January to fill the places, by which time they could already be out of the title race and the Carabao Cup.
It was Trossard’s goals in the second half of the 2023/24 season that kept Arsenal in the race; five of his 17 goals last season came in the final eight league games.
Trossard started the 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday but was sacrificed for Declan Rice following a red card, costing Arsenal two points.
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