Transfer Rumour: Bordeaux’s Malcom not leaving in January

Young attacking players from French clubs seemed to be all the rage, so news of Arsenal looking to buy the Brazilian winger Malcom this January window as an Alexis Sanchez replacement was a juicy rumour to make the rounds. Enough to draw in suspicion that Spurs were also vying for the player.

Well, new coach, new rules. On Saturday, Bordeaux fired their coach Jocelyn Gourvennec as they struggle to stay in the top flight this season and new man Gus “I’ve played for both evil teams in London” Poyet has ruled out any potential move. He said in an interview with L’Equipe:

“I asked straight away if Malcom would be staying or not. They said ‘yes’. I said ‘OK, now we can continue the discussion’.”

This was backed up by Club President Stephane Martin:

“Malcom, it has been said and said again, he will not be leaving. He has said he wants to play in the Premier League one day. That is normal, what player wouldn’t want to play in England? There is no problem with Malcom.”

So that’s that.

It’s not a huge surprise. Even before Arsenal pulled their interest in buying Malcom, rumours of a buy-loan back or a loan with options to buy had been brought up. Bordeaux sit only six points above the drop and losing one of their best offensive talents, even for a cool 44m, would seriously dent their ambitions. A successful survive and more football from Malcom, though, only drives up the price.

Should look forward to more rumours this summer, whether Arsenal ever revisit this transfer or not. With the Gunners in with potential moves for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this week, interesting in more attacking players might be seriously cooled.