Any chance that Arsenal and Laurent Koscielny had to resolve their differences appear to be fading fast with news that the Frenchman is taking legal advice after being offered a contract with a 50 per cent pay cut
To be honest it all seems a little complicated to me.
Apparently, Koscielny is furious that he was offered a two-year extension at 50% of his current wage and that is why he is taking legal action.
How does that make sense? You don’t like the contract you turn it down, what you do not do is take out legal action and refuse to tour.
It is understandable that the 33-year-old wants to secure his future as his career winds down but he has a contract and he has to honour that or face the consequences.
By going down the route of using lawyers he will not achieve anything less than Arsenal digging in and standing their ground.
It is also making it impossible for there to be any form of reconciliation but maybe that is what he is going for anyway.
Koscielny wants a free transfer, that is simply not going to happen, not when Arsenal want as much as £8.8 Million for him, though, in all fairness, that is ridiculous as well.
The only realistic solution to this is that Koscielny buys his contract out or sits in the reserves for 12 months.
Though there is still a chance a club will offer a transfer fee but Arsenal will need to drop their valuation significantly.
The bottom line is that this is now a mess with legal teams involved, not exactly the legacy Koscielny will have wanted.