Newcastle defender Sebastien Bassong claims Arsenal want to sign him.

Bassong joined from Metz for £500,000 last year and made a big impact despite the club being relegated.

Arsenal are not the only side interested in the 22-year-old, who admits a move is on hold until Newcastle's takeover is agreed.

He said: "There was an approach from Arsenal, but for now nothing is concrete.

"Clearly it would be better if everything went quicker but I am not worried."

Bassong insists he no longer sees his future at Newcastle but said the attempts to sell the club were not making his task of finding a club easy.

"Some Premier League clubs are interested in me but not everything is simple given that Newcastle are in the process of being bought out and the name of the future manager is still not known," he said.