Arsenal player ‘heading for the exit’ – Negotiations now underway, with spread payments desired

Marseille are continuing with their efforts to sign Mattéo Guendouzi, with days of claims coming from the French media.

L’Equipe give their update on the situation today, and it’s stated negotiations have now been held with Arsenal about a deal for the midfielder. That comes after previous claims from France which stated Marseille had already agreed a rough deal with the player, yet there hadn’t been any talks between the clubs.

Guendouzi was even said to have travelled to Marseille to speak to people at the club, and was presumably happy with everything he was told, hence the agreement.

Arsenal will be a harder nut to crack, and L’Equipe state Marseille are looking for a good value deal. With the player ‘heading for the exit’ at Arsenal, they want to sign him at a ‘reasonable rate’.

Not only that, Marseille would like to spread the payment of a transfer fee over the period of Guendouzi’s contract with them, which would likely be four or five years. That’s not an unusual way of doing transfers, even if Arsenal would prefer the money in one go.

Once again it’s stated Marseille are also keen on William Saliba, although that file doesn’t seem as advanced right now.