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Arsenal are close to agreeing a deal for L’Orient winger Claude Maurice.
The 21 year old is much in demand, with West Ham, Brighton and Newcastle amongst the Premier League clubs interested in him, whilst foreign clubs like Borussia Monchoengladbach, and RB Leipzig, as well as domestic rivals Lyon, Lille, and Monaco, also said to be interested in him.
However, Arsenal, who already have had two bids for the player turned down are now said to have agreed to pay his €20 million (£17.7 million) asking price, whilst personal terms with the player are also said to have been agreed.
Arsenal have a history of buying players from L’Orient. Last summer they acquired midfielder Matteo Geundouzi from the Ligue 1 side, and he has gone on to make a successful transition to English football. And it was also there that they went to buy club captain Laurent Koscielny, who has gone on to make more than 350 appearances for The Gunners.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.