Arsenal have rejected a late attempt from Al-Ittihad to sign Leandro Trossard on an initial season’s loan and insisted they have no intention of allowing the Belgium forward to leave.
The Saudi Arabian club are understood to have proposed to pay £4m to take Trossard on loan with an obligation to make the deal permanent for about £25m. But that was quickly dismissed by Arsenal, who view the 29-year-old as a vital member of their squad despite signing Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea on the final day of the Premier League’s transfer window on Friday.
The window in Saudi Arabia’s Pro League and several leagues in Europe closes on Monday, and Al-Ittihad hoped Trossard would join Moussa Diaby – who signed from Aston Villa for €60m – in their squad.
Trossard started against his former club Brighton on Saturday, having scored the opening goal in Arsenal’s win over Villa as a substitute the previous week. His muted celebration hinted he was not happy at being on the bench, and Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, praised Trossard’s response.
The former Manchester United defender Chris Smalling is expected to have a medical in Rome on Monday for a proposed move to the Saudi Pro League club Al-Fayha. Victor Osimhen, who was left out of Napoli’s Serie A squad after a move to Al-Ahli fell through, and Chelsea’s David Datro Fofana are among the other players who could move to Saudi Arabia.
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The window also remains open in the Netherlands and Portugal until Monday night. Manchester City’s Issa Kaboré has joined Benfica on a season’s loan and PSV look set to sign Joel Ndala from City’s academy on loan with an obligation to buy for up to £8.4m, with a buyback clause for the England Under-17 forward understood to have been included in the deal.