Francis Coquelin does like so many other players in our side, manage to do his job rather silently on the pitch, without probably getting the praise they deserve. Coquelin is a player with many strengths, although of course he is prone to his occasional moment of hotheadedness. He is however largely a player who doesn’t put a foot wrong in his performance and for the last three seasons now, he’s been a consistent performer and impressive player in the team.
A day after Hector Bellerin revealed his intentions to stay with the Gunners for many more years to come, his teammate Coquelin has followed in the youngsters footsteps to pledge his long term future to the club. Coquelin hasn’t gone as far as to sign a new contract with the club, but the French midfielder had a recent interview with L’Equipe in which he revealed his desire to remain at Arsenal for as long as he can.
The report was then picked up by SkySports, with Coquelin saying: “I think I’m already at a very, very big club. And I’m a person who is loyal to my club, I came here very young, I owe them a lot.
“So from the moment things are done well, my inclination is to stay at Arsenal for as long as possible.
“But then there has to be that desire on both sides. But spending the rest of my career at Arsenal would make me very proud.”
When Coquelin made his return to Arsenal, the Gunners were at a desperate point in midfield. The team needed more presence in the middle of the park after an injury crisis and Coquelin brought that much needed steel. It was extremely lucky that Arsenal still had Coquelin on the books, after rumours emerged later on that the club had intended to sell the Frenchman in the summer transfer window prior to his Gunners breakthrough. Wenger made a bold, yet rather desperate decision to recall Coquelin from his loan and the manager had to have faith in him to bring the team the strength it desired in midfield. Thankfully it was a move that paid off for all parties and Coquelin has become an established member of the squad.
Although Coquelin may not quite get the same praise today that he was used to when he first joined back up with the team in 2014, he is a well established member of the team and he’s still highly valued by the club. Competition for places in midfield has become highly competitive and as a result there is more rotation in the central position. However despite this, Coquelin seems to be the regular starter amongst all of the players, with the likes of Ramsey, Xhaka, Cazorla and Elneny being the players finding themselves more in and out of the side than the Frenchman.
It’s great to see such loyalty from players in this modern era of football, especially as the game is so highly driven by money nowadays. I think so long as Coquelin continues to put in the strong performances that we’ve seen from him these last three seasons, then the Gunners will be happy to keep him on the books for as long as they can.
By AH