Mathieu Debuchy wants to leave Arsenal in January as French star looks to cash in on improved form

Mathieu Debuchy hopes he can leverage his good form at Arsenal over recent weeks into a January move.

The 32-year-old has enjoyed a surprise renaissance in the Arsenal first team over recent weeks, starting regularly in the Europa League and EFL Cup.

Debuchy has endured a frustrating three-and-a-half years at Arsenal as injuries and the emergence of Hector Bellerin have limited him to just 13 Premier League appearances for the club, whilst a string of potential moves away have collapsed since his spent the second half of the 2015-16 season on loan at Bordeaux.

Arsene Wenger publicly admonished Debuchy a year ago, accusing him of lying over a failed move to Manchester United, but has since praised his “fight to come back to the top”. But the full-back now hopes to use his improved form to find a new club.

“I want to leave, to find a new challenge in January,” Debuchy told RMC Sport. “The fact I’m playing well will give me opportunities.

“We’ll see if there are good opportunities in the transfer window. I’m open.”

Debuchy has 18 months remaining on his Arsenal contract and is believed to be earning wages of around £70,000-a-week, a settlement that has dissuaded some suitors from pursuing a deal.

One of those is Ligue 1 side Nice, who Debuchy claims got as far as arranging a medical ahead of a deal only to pull the plug.

“I was waiting for them to get back to me, but in the end they never did, not even a little message,” he said.

“I was very disappointed with that attitude, especially from Mr [Julien] Fournier [Nice CEO], but I’ve moved on and it’s allowed me to play very high-level games with Arsenal again.”