Arsenal must be signing ‘very special’ winger to replace Leandro Trossard, says Martin Keown

Martin Keown says Arsenal are losing a ‘fantastic servant’ in Leandro Trossard and the club must have someone ‘very special’ in the pipeline to replace him on the left wing.

Arsenal confirmed today that they had reached an agreement with Besiktas over the permanent transfer of Trossard, 31, and the forward has been given permission to undergo a medical with the Turkish giants.

Trossard spent four years with the Gunners following a £21million move from Brighton back in 2023, going on to rack up 36 goals and 34 assists in 174 appearances under the tutelage Mikel Arteta.

Six of those goals came last season as Arsenal got their hands on the Premier League trophy at long last, which proved to be the Belgian’s one and only piece of silverware, barring the club’s Community Shield triumph three years earlier.

It’s understood Trossard will put pen to paper on a three-year contract at Besiktas, with the two teams settling on a £17m transfer fee for the attacker.

‘I’m not surprised. I think he’s been a fantastic servant for Arsenal, come in and done an amazing job,’ former Arsenal and England defender Keown said of Trossard’s departure on talkSPORT.

‘They don’t really get a lot of money, Arsenal, from players that they let go.

‘So I think they’re looking at this and thinking, “Okay, we’re going to bring in another winger in… which one of Trossard or [Gabriel] Martinelli should we let go?”, and Martinelli was coming into some really good form.

‘I think Martinelli did really for Brazil actually.’

According to Keown, Arsenal must have a ‘special’ talent in their sights if they are prepared to let a player of Trossard’s qualities leave this summer.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola and Club Brugge’s Christos Tzolis are among the names being linked with the Gunners.

However, Aston Villa and England star Morgan Rogers, who is comfortable playing both on the wing and in midfield, is believed to be at the top of Arsenal’s wishlist in preparation for the new season.

‘Trossard goes with a heavy heart from the fans but I can understand the business they’re doing,’ Keown added.

‘They must have somebody very special lined up to come into this role on the left wing for Arsenal.’

Villa have reportedly slapped an eye-watering £100m price tag on Rogers this summer, with the player himself said to be ‘keen’ on a proposed switch to the Emirates.

Keown has his doubts, though, questioning whether a big-money bid for Rogers is the right ‘direction’ for his former team.

Reacting to Villa’s £100m asking price for Rogers, Keown replied: ‘Gosh! Well, he’s a player who was available to everybody when he was at Manchester City not so long ago.

‘I’m not sure that’s the direction that Arsenal will go in, I can’t see that being the case. Let’s see.

‘You’ve got Max Dowman coming through who plays as a No.10 eventually and you don’t want to be blocking any pathways.

‘Maybe the money is going to be spent on another centre-forward, let’s see. It would be phenomenal if they could go for another centre-forward.’

Illan Meslier remains the only new face at Arsenal at this stage of the transfer window.

The 26-year-old goalkeeper allowed his contract to run down at Leeds United and joined the Gunners on a free transfer last week.

He will be expected to play second fiddle to undisputed number one David Raya, with Kepa Arrizabalaga rumoured to be on his way out of north London.

Arsenal also signed Piero Hincapie on a permanent basis last month after activating a clause £35m clause in their deal with Bayer Leverkusen for the defender.

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