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France Defender Finally Joins Arsenal For £12m

Arsenal have signed the full-back Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle.

The 28-year-old, who was part of the France World Cup squad who reached the World Cup quarter-finals, will present a ready-made replacement for Bacary Sagna, who has left Arsenal to join Manchester City on a free transfer.

A post on Arsenal’s official Twitter feed read: “It’s official – Mathieu Debuchy has signed for Arsenal!”

Debuchy, who has cost around £12m, becomes Arsenal’s second signing of the summer, following the arrival of Alexis Sánchez from Barcelona.

Debuchy said: “I’m very proud to be joining a great club like Arsenal and to wear its colours. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the whole world. I’m looking forward to working with Arsène Wenger and to helping the team build on last season’s FA Cup success. Playing again in the Champions League is a big excitement for me and I will do my best to help Arsenal compete for trophies.”

Wenger said: “We are delighted to welcome Mathieu Debuchy to Arsenal. He has shown he can perform at the highest level with his club sides and also for France. He is a quality defender who has good Premier League experience and I’m confident he will fit in very well with us.”

Debuchy made 46 appearances in his 18 months on Tyneside after signing from Lille, where he won the league and French Cup double in 2010-11. He was named in the Ligue 1 team of the season the following year, having also won the first of his 25 France caps in October 2011 against Albania.