Arsenal make final Malick Fofana transfer decision with Lyon star set for medical
metro.co.uk ·
Malick Fofana emerged as a late transfer window target for Arsenal (Picture: AFP) Arsenal have pulled out of the race to sign Malick Fofana from Lyon on transfer deadline day. The Belgium international emerged as a target for the Gunners on Monday with Mikel Arteta still keen to strengthen his forward line following a number of high-profile snubs. Morgan Rogers, Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez have all been coveted by the Premier League champions at various stages of the summer window but Christos Tzolis remains the only attacking player signed by Arteta. Following the decisions to sanction the departures of Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, as well as Ethan Nwaneri’s loan move to Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal have belatedly made an effort to compensate for those losses. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. Arteta is understood to have held a conversation with Fofana, but Arsenal have been unable to strike a deal with Lyon. The Ligue 1 side need to sell one of their prize assets following their failure to qualify for the Champions League after last week’s defeat to Fenerbahce and had been holding out for a fee of €40million. Arsenal are, however, according to Fabrizio Romano, unwilling to meet that asking price which initially presented Sunderland with an opportunity to pounce. Malick Fofana is now on the verge of joining Sunderland (Credits: REUTERS) The 21-year-old had accepted an offer from the Black Cats and had been due to arrive on Wearside this afternoon ahead of a medical. However, a late twist saw Crystal Palace hijack the deal and offered Lyon a larger fee which prompted a change of plan and the youngster is now set to sign for the Eagles. Arsenal are now understood to be assessing their options having all but admitted defeat in their pursuit of Alvarez who is now expected to remain at Atletico Madrid. Arteta was, at least, able to celebrate a hard-fought 1-0 win over Aston Villa last night, after which he was pressed about the club’s deadline day plans. ‘We are trying to improve the squad, and until tomorrow night we’re going to try to do that,’ Arteta said. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Arteta speaks after Arsenal's title-winning Premier League campaign comes to an end","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/05\/25\/1159568931185836216\/480x270_MP4_1159568931185836216.mp4","description":"Wearing an Arsenal shirt, with '26 Champions' on the back, and a golden medal around his neck, Arteta said: 'It is very difficult to put it into words. What a moment. A lot of emotions, a lot of joy, pride.'","duration":"T6M42S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/05\/25\/08\/108846251-0-image-m-9_1779694921981.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-05-25T08:21:41+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); ‘I’ve been disconnected from the world for 24 hours, because I think my energy and focus has to be on the match, and I will get back on it now.’ Asked if he was confident that Arsenal had enough options in forward areas even with those departures, Arteta responded: ‘It depends if everybody’s fit or not. ‘We can talk about today, but that scenario might change. We knew that with Willy [Saliba] out, we had an i
