Sead Kolasinac leaves Arsenal, joins Olympique Marseille

Sead Kolasinac and Arsenal have mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the club earlier today, which allowed him to sign for Olympique Marseille on a free transfer. Kolasinac’s contract was up at the end of this season anyway, but this way, he’s able to join Marseille in the January transfer window instead of six months from now.

The move also clears his £100,000 per week salary off the books, which while not a massive chunk of change, does save the Gunners money. And as a general rule, you don’t want to be paying players who are not going to play any meaningful minutes (or perhaps at all). It was best for both player and club to move on.

Kolasinac joined Arsenal in 2017 on a free transfer from Schalke, where he spent the second half of last season on loan. For a short while, it looked as if the Gunners had made away like bandits signing him on a free — he started out like gangbusters in North London. He marauded down the pitch with the ball, shrugging off opponents left and right, and played defense with a similar physical, take-no-prisoners style.

Unfortunately, he cooled off after half a season or so. His defense, while physical, was erratic, and he got beat too frequently. And his swashbuckling runs more likely to end with the ball going into touch for a goalkick or a harmless cross to nobody in particular than they were to end in a scoring chance. All told, Kolasinac made 116 appearances for the club.

I liked watching Sead Kolasinac play. His bruising style was fun. And he will go down in Arsenal lore for the sheer badassery of fighting off an attempted robbery of himself Mesut Özil with his bare hands. Best of luck in France, Sead.