When Francis Coquelin arrived back at Arsenal after being recalled from a loan at Charlton, he was quickly installed as the automatic choice in central midfield alongside our Spanish genius Santi Cazorla and the pairing was absolutely amazing. But when Cazorla got injured Le Coq couldn’t seem to gel with any other of our midfielders and his performances dipped and he dropped down the pecking order.
Now the Frenchman has left us to join Valencia in La Liga, and he has revealed that he was unsure of the interest of the Spanish club until Cazorla convinced him it was a great destination. Coquelin said: “He told me it’s an excellent club which I will not regret joining.
“I respect Cazorla’s opinion a lot, so when he told me this, he convinced me. I trust what he tells me.”
He also wishes he had made the move during the summer when Valencia first made overtures about a possible move to Spain. “It’s true that there was interest in the summer but in my head I wanted to continue at Arsenal and do well there,” He revealed. “It wasn’t to be and now this opportunity has come up.
“I almost regret not having come before. I think it’s an excellent opportunity for me and I’m very grateful.
“It’s a big challenge, and a new start in my life for me, which I’m very excited about.”
It is a fact that if Coquelin can find another partner in the mould of Cazorla he could take La Liga by storm. He was never really trusted by Wenger when he first arrived, having flopped on previous loan moves at Lorient and Freiberg, so I think Le Prof was just as surprised as the rest of us when he became a beast of a player alongside Santi. Personally I think we should have given him more chances to regain his form, but if Santi thinks he will be fine in Spain, then who are we to argue!
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