Forgotten Arsenal Man Wants to Push Through January Move in Search of Regular Football

Arsenal defender Mathieu Debuchy has revealed his intentions to leave the club in January after being pushed out of the first team in recent years.

The French full-back joined from Newcastle in 2014 but a combination of injury problems and the emergence of Hector Bellerin has seen him drop out of the first XI.

He’d been expected to leave the past summer window after previous attempts to leave in prior windows were blocked by Arsene Wenger. Nonetheless, Arsenal were even willing to let Debuchy leave for free over the summer with 12 months still on his contract.

He has made a bit-part return to the first team this season, making appearances in the Carabao Cup and the Europa League, sometimes deployed as a central defender.

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But limited opportunities have prompted intentions to seek regular football rather than be on the fringes at the Emirates.

Speaking in an interview with RMC Sport, he said: "I want to leave, to find a new challenge in the month of January.

“Being good will offer me opportunities. The Ligue 1? Why not. We will see the transfer window, if there are good opportunities, I'm open.”

He very nearly moved to Nice this summer, but the move failed to materialise.

"At the moment, I still do not know why it did not happen, I was very close to Nice, I met Julien Fournier, I also met the coach. In a hotel in the city ... we had a good discussion.

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“I had tests to reassure them and everything was nil, I was expecting a return from them but, in the end, I never had a return, not even a little message, " he added.

"I was very disappointed with this attitude, especially from Mr. Fournier, but I moved on and it allowed me to play with Arsenal matches at a very high level."