Tuesday has been an interesting day for Arsenal rumours, with claims the Premier League side have placed Bordeaux’s Paulo Sousa on their shortlist of targets to replace Unai Emery.
It all started with TuttoMercatoWeb in Italy, who believed he was one of three the London side were looking at, which was then followed up by L’Equipe, who confirmed the original story from the Italians, and added some of their own info.
They had quotes from the manager’s entourage, and explained the Portuguese had a €2-3m release clause in his contract, which would allow him to break free from Bordeaux if an interested club came knocking with a cheque for that amount.
It’s all very exciting, but RMC Sport have now moved to calm things down a little bit, as they explain that despite these claims, there is no worry in the south of France that Sousa could be about to leave for Arsenal.
They explain that the English club ‘have never contacted’ Bordeaux about their manager, and the former Fiorentina man ‘has absolutely not spoken to the board’ about an interest from the Gunners.
There is further confirmation regarding the release clause, however, which is always good to know, but, overall, the Ligue 1 side are ‘not worried at all’ about the rumours.
On the plus side for Arsenal is the fact Sousa does want some aspects of his job at Bordeaux ‘clarified’, especially regarding the future transfer windows, as ‘the current project isn’t the one offered to him’ when he interviewed for the job.
Could a failure to give their manager the answers he wants be the trigger for an exit if the Gunners really do want him? We’ll have to wait and see.
There’s a reasonable chance Arsenal, and their vacant managerial position, are being used as a tool to pressure Bordeaux.
