According to L’Equipe, Arsene Wenger blocked Mathieu Debuchy’s move to Manchester United in 2015.

The French media outlet, cited by Sport Witness, claims that the Red Devils were willing to offer the rightback a five-year deal after he fell behind Hector Bellerin in the pecking order. However, as Wenger quite rightly sees United as a rival, he blocked the move.

Debuchy has now fallen even further down the ladder after Carl Jenkinson returned from his loan spell at West Ham and recovered from the knee injury, which had his sidelined for nine months, only to become Bellerin’s understudy straight away.

ENFIELD, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 18: Anthony Georgiou of Tottenham Hotspur closes down Mathieu Debuchy of Arsenal during the Premier League 2 match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on November 18, 2016 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
ENFIELD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 18: Anthony Georgiou of Tottenham Hotspur closes down Mathieu Debuchy of Arsenal during the Premier League 2 match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on November 18, 2016 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Considering Debuchy’s 31, he shouldn’t be scraping around for game time with Arsenal’s youth squad. As a defender, he should be in his prime. Instead, he’s only featured 22 times for the club since signing from Newcastle in 2014.

Was Wenger right to block the move?

Absolutely. Even if Debuchy isn’t a huge part of the squad, it’s still selling to a direct rival. He’s contracted with us until 2019 so there’s no rush for us to offload him just yet.

Saying this, I’d say it’s looking likely that we’ll at least loan him out in January, with both Roma and Galatasaray reportedly interested.