Leandro Trossard Joins Besiktas for £15.3m

Leandro Trossard’s time in north London is over. On Wednesday, the Belgian winger completed a permanent move from Arsenal to Besiktas for a reported £15.3 million, drawing a line under a spell that ended with the Premier League trophy in his hands.

At 31, Trossard swaps the intensity of the English top flight for the noise and heat of the Turkish Super Lig, joining a Besiktas side that has long craved a headline attacking figure. The fee, modest by modern Premier League standards, reflects both his experience and the reality of a squad being reshaped after a title-winning campaign.

Trossard arrived at the Emirates from Brighton in January 2023, a mid-season signing who quickly proved more than just cover. His versatility across the front line gave Mikel Arteta another angle in attack, and his knack for finding space in crowded penalty areas often shifted tight games.

Across all competitions, he pulled on the Arsenal shirt 174 times, scoring 36 goals and supplying 34 assists. Those numbers tell part of the story. The rest comes in moments: the clever movement between the lines, the quick one-twos around the box, the cut-backs that became a familiar feature of Arsenal’s attacking patterns.

He played his part on the biggest stages as well. Fresh from featuring at the 2026 World Cup with Belgium, Trossard slotted into a side that was learning how to handle pressure, not just chase it. Last season, that journey culminated in Arsenal lifting the Premier League title for the first time in more than 20 years, a generational barrier finally broken. Trossard was in that dressing room, in that rotation, in those decisive spring fixtures.

Arsenal marked his departure with a brief but pointed message. “Everyone at Arsenal would like to thank Leo for his valued contribution to the club and wish him all the best for his future,” the club said in a statement on their website. No fanfare, but clear respect.

For Besiktas, this is a statement signing: a proven international, a recent Premier League champion, and a player hardened by the demands of English football and the scrutiny of a World Cup. For Trossard, it is a new stage, a new crowd, a new pressure.

His Arsenal story ends with medals, numbers and a title on his CV. The next chapter starts under the floodlights of Istanbul.