Arsenal’s Sead Kolašinac joins Marseille

Sead Kolasinac joined Arsenal on a free transfer from FC Schalke. Shortly after the news, the 23-year-old Bosnia and Herzegovina international, who was born in Germany, turned to Facebook to thank his supporters and discuss the transfer. This season, the defender has failed to find consistent game time under Mikel Arteta.

This season, he appeared in just five games for the Gunners, two of which were in the Premier League. He is presently in France for a medical. To enable the move, Kolasinac had the balance of his contract terminated, according to the Daily Mail.

Mikel Arteta’s plans did not involve the 28-year-old left-back, who had only six months remaining on his contract with the Emirates.

In order to save money on Kolasinac’s pay, the North London club opted to let him leave.

It’s not the first time Arsenal has let a player’s contract to lapse in the midst of a season; Mesut Ozil, Sokratis, and Shkodran Mustafi all departed the club last season.

Given his lack of playing time over the last 18 to 24 months, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international had wanted to leave Arsenal for some time.

Kolasinac is the third player to leave Arsenal in January — Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Folarin Balogun have been loaned out — even though the club is short of players and had a request to call off last weekend’s north London derby against Tottenham granted by the Premier League.

The Bosnian international has signed a deal with Stade Velodrome that will last until the summer of 2023.