Bordeaux president says Malcom will not leave in January

Bordeaux’s 20-year old winger Malcom is the subject of intense speculation in this January’s transfer window, and he’s been heavily linked with a move to both Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal. There was even talk that Spurs were in “active negotiations” for the transfer of the Brazilian this month, but although Spurs have privately admitted interest, they have yet to make a move.

Bordeaux, for the record, has been very strong in saying that there will not be a deal this month. According to an article in today’s L’Equipe, Bordeaux president Stéphane Martin has gone as far as to say that Malcom will not leave the club in January.

Here’s a translation, courtesy of the Google Machine and slightly tidied up courtesy of my one semester class of French reading comprehension in grad school:

«Malcom, on l’a dit et redit, il ne partira pas. Il a dit qu’il voulait évoluer un jour en Premier League. C’est normal, quel joueur ne voudrait pas jouer en Angleterre ? Il n’y a donc pas de problème Malcom.»

“Malcom, it has been said over and over, he will not be leaving. He has said he wants to play in the Premier League one day. That’s normal - what player wouldn’t want to play in England? There is no problem with Malcom.”

And before anyone (like, y’know, me) says that the appointment of former Tottenham player Gus Poyet as Bordeaux’s new manager might grease the skids to bring Malcom to Spurs this month, Poyet basically said that he took the job on the condition that Malcom stays.

«J’ai tout de suite demandé si Malcom restait ou pas. On m’a répondu oui. J’ai dit ok, donc on peut continuer la discussion.»

“I immediately asked if Malcom was staying or not. I was told yes. I said ok, we can continue the discussion.”

That’s not great if you were hoping Malcom would be an immediate contributor to Tottenham’s 2017-18 campaign. However, if you want an especially Lloyd-Christmas-y take, Martin and Poyet’s comments explicitly do NOT rule out a January purchase, with a loan back to Bordeaux for the rest of the season.

Do I think that’ll happen? Nah, probably not. So if Malcom is high on your wish list, I’d suggest you buckle up and get ready for another big transfer #saga in this summer’s window.