For those who are asking, Koscielny is not for sale!
According to an article from the Metro, which cites French Outlet Le 10 Sport as their original source, Wenger has said to new Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho that Laurent Koscielny is not for sale! Mourinho is looking to bolster his defence and had apparently outlined Koscielny as one of his key targets this summer. However ‘The Special One’ has been rebuffed by Arsenal and Arsene Wenger in their attempts to take our best centre back away from us.
At 30 years old Koscielny is approaching what is going to be his final big contract at the club and so his next move (if any) will probably be his last. For his six years of service to the club so far, there has been rumours that Wenger may be considering giving LoLo the captaincy for next season, although I know many people disapprove of that idea. Koscielny has been a fantastic servant to the club after signing for the Arsenal back in 2010 and he has reportedly turned down many big offers from a few big European clubs, most notably Bayern Munich. He was an unknown talent when we signed him and after a fairly rocky start to his career, getting sent off on his debut, many weren’t too sure of our new defender. But he has since grown into one of the world’s best and there’s no doubt about that.
Koscielny has spent many years at the club showing how his ability never seems to stop improving. A tough tackler and a defender with pace makes him the perfect mix to be in the last line of defence. Arguably his form did dip a little last season in comparison to other years and I think it may be the case of not having a regular partner beside him. Of course he has been switching between Mertesacker and Gabriel, occasionally even with Chambers, so he has had a lot of different styles of player to accommodate in a partnership. However I have every confidence in Koscielny being our best centre back at the club right now.
Gone are the days were Arsenal are having to sell our best players to find our finances, so no Jose, you can’t have him I’m afraid!
BY AH