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Mathieu Debuchy Is The Leading Goal Scoring Defender Since Leaving Arsenal

Mathieu Debuchy Is The Leading Goal Scoring Defender Since Leaving Arsenal

From a right back who couldn't get a game in the Premier League to a goal scorer in Ligue 1.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

There was more than one occasion this season where I found myself exclaiming 'Wait, Mathieu Debuchy still plays for Arsenal?' now though he's moved on and there's calls for a France recall, such are his performances.

Mathieu Debuchy hasn't been an Arsenal regular since, well, he was never really an Arsenal regular at all with 10 appearances in the Premier League in his debut season for the Gunners in 2014/15 the most he ever made.

Outside of that he made two appearances in the league the next season, one the season after and zero this term. He spent some time on loan at Bordeaux but he has still been an Arsenal player up until this year when he finally left for Saint Etienne in January.

You'd have thought that limping back to France aged 32 after a non existent end to his time in England would likely mean he would see out his career pretty quietly but you'd be wrong.

Following his move he's been in ridiculous form. In fact he scored the winner for his side against Strasbourg in a 1-0 win on Saturday afternoon, his fourth since the move back to Ligue 1. It made him the top scoring defender in Europe in 2018:

Debuchy's return to form, or perhaps his finding of form he never had, has led to calls from some in France to include him in the World Cup squad that will be one of the favourites in Russia this summer.

The right back position is one that doesn't have obvious options for Didier Deschamps. Monaco's Djibril Sidibe is likely to be first choice but outside of him there are plenty of options with no one standing out so Debuchy has a chance.

Because of his recent goal scoring exploits former Rennes and Montpellier manager Rolland Courbis joked the former Newcastle man could be called up as a right back or a forward:

Debuchy at the World Cup, who'd have thought?

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Topics: Football News, Ligue 1, Premier League, Arsenal, France