Koscielny makes it clear he wants to leave – Should Arsenal give in to his demands?

We have had the discussion about how unprofessional it was for our captain Laurent Koscielny to go against Arsenal’s orders, and refuse to go to America for our pre-season tour, but he and the club have up-til-now not made any announcements about the situation.

Now Unai Emery has admitted that Koscielny has told the club that he wants to leave despite still having another 12 months on his contract at the Emirates. Whilst talking about who will be Arsenal’s captain(s) next season, the boss said: “We spoke a little about this and last year we had Laurent, Petr Cech and Ramsey,”

“At the moment, Koscielny has a contract with us but I think they are going to speak, the club and him, about whether he continues or not.”

This obviously gave the interviewer the opportunity to ask directly about what was going on with Koscielny, and he replied: “This matter is for the club and for him. Before this travel, I spoke with him three times about that and he wanted to speak with the club because his first idea is to leave and the moment to leave from the team.

“But when I spoke with him, I wanted him to come with us and also to continue working and speaking with the club about the possibilities that are best for him and the team. He decided to stay in London and now this matter is for him and the club to speak and take the decision.”

So it is now clear that Koscielny has rebelled because he wants to leave the club and doesn’t want to respect his contract, and it is also obvious that Emery wanted him to stay for his final year.

Is it worth keeping an unhappy player on the books against his will, or should we just bow into his demands and let him go at any price?

Admin

45 Comments

  1. Let him go at any Price, he said it before he returned from injury that he’d like to go back home.
    Now I don’t know if he had any agreement with the club that he’ll be leaving this summer, but it seems odd that he’ll just wake up one day and decide to dishonor his contract.
    Maybe they had an agreement? But now that we can’t get in any defender after Saliba, the club wants him to stay for one more season to cover for Saliba but he wants to leave? Well it’s hard to see any club paying 13million for him at his age, better accept any fee and let him go, promote Medley or give Bielik that chance we’ve all been waiting for

      1. A man who gave his best years, when he could’ve joined other elite clubs, and played through injury/partial fitness whenever called upon, must surely have a very good reason for such blatant dissent as this is very much out of character for him.

        The public aren’t fully aware of all the facts, we only see the symptoms and not the real cause.

        If he wants to leave then let him leave.

        1. I think it’s fair to let him leave now. Yes has given arsenal his all, besides arsenal will not give him more than a year contract after this season.

    1. Let him go, but make any club pay at least 5 – 6 mill. quid.

      Even teams in France can afford to pay that much for a highly experienced player who they will use for 2 seasons or maybe even 3 if his physique survives intact.

      10 mill. is, however, an amount we will not get, I’m afraid.

    2. So this would apply to any of our players then? We paid him when he was injured, off form and took his career to a new level when we signed him. He has a year on his contract we honoured the commitment so should he. If he Is to leave then a fee is reasonable for a club to pay, he can’t come back to the first team now but it’s a dangerous precedence to set writing off contracts just because the player sees it one way. Can we then just say to Ozil your released and we pay you no more, no.

      1. Exactly Dan but unfortunately it’s a one way street if he’s forced to stay his form will drop and moral in the changing room will be another thing to worry about, if he had just signed then I say rot and train with the uth team untill your contract finishes to send all players a massage

        He could of return in a few years as a coach or something but he just blow that away silly man

    3. We don’t even need him to cover for Saliba since Chambers is back. A player we should have not loaned out because we would be in UCL if we kept him for the season.

  2. Koscielny was only loyal to Wenger and not to Arsenal, the club. He once made such comments. The club should not let him stay, he will definitely intentionally cause or allow goals. Letting him go for free is also a sign of weakness. He should buy out his contract or be sent on loan to a championship side. He is a disgrace.

    1. No player ever does that. That’s at least what I’d like to believe and expect from someone who has been as loyal as Koscielny. He has been a top professional. To make such accusations to such a player, you must be blinded with poor judgment. Give that man what he wants. That’s the least he deserves!

      1. ‘The man what he wants’ I can’t think I have heard that before. Yeah, it was when we were desperate to keep Ozil, what is happening after we are a witness. I love Kos and I respect him but if he is desperate to go back France why didn’t he do that after his injury against atletico. He could have told the club to release him from his contract and he would only be in the club for his rehabilitation. With that declaration, the could decide against Chambers loan and bought well at his position but he didn’t instead he got paid, cane back to full fitness and when club needs him he is throwing tantrums and some fans are feeling it is ideal to release him for free. He acted badly by not going on tour and the club should make example him. Which club in the world treats her employees better than arsenal. Look at what we done for Rosicky, Diaby, Eduardo, Ramsey, Wilshere and Carzolar. No club takes care of her players than ours and we don’t deserve to be treated with that disdain. The coach told him come with us on tour and continue your discussion with the club but he acted against his advice and ridicule us. Good riddance

  3. Ramsey was a real professional and give his all his last year at Arsenal.

    Meanwhile Kos throws a tantrum and wants to ignore his last year. Let him buy out his contract if it’s so bad at Arsenal.

    Otherwise fine and suspend him, and if refuses to play, then let him sit at home away from team without pay. Lower his transfer fee to £3-£5 million if it helps to move him on.

    Give Bielik his spot, at least he wants to play.

    1. Personally it’s when he downed tools that did me in. I don’t care about his reasons or why; his behavior is childish and unprofessional and nothing can justify his actions.

      I find it hard to believe he had any “agreement” to up and leave ignoring the last year of contract. What club would agree to such a condition?

      Maybe if they priced him out of a move by setting transfer fee to high, that seems probable.

      Either way, no excuse for his actions, and he should suffer all the consequences.

      1. He’s got his reasons. And whether you or anyone here knows them or not, I bet he could care less. Its best most of you keep to what you know about instead of getting all up in your feelings and speculating.

        1. Refusing to join team not speculation, downing tools not speculation. Club took back contract they offered Ramsey, yet he remained professional, played well, and got well deserved sendoff.

          Meanwhile captain Kos throws a tantrum. Both weren’t satisfied with their situations, yet one was professional and the other not.

          You’re right about Kos and couldn’t care less, a shame really.

          1. You’re speculating and don’t know the facts behind his actions. Cause and effect dude… Google it.

          2. The facts better be damning if you are the club captain refusing to train. That is disgraceful. Even Sergio Ramos hasn’t stooped that low.

  4. The fact that he wants to leave indicated his heart is not there anymore. But, he is under contract and as such he has a value to the club financially. Not sure he is worth £13m? If he wants to buy himself out he should be able to or the new club must!

    Do NOT let him leave for nothing because that is the wrong message and opens the door for others to do it!!!

    Surely he has been offered a contract somewhere else?

    1. Yeah, me too Sue. Hes been a great servant and captain!

      Maybe he just doesn’t get on that well with UE?

      1. He has indeed & I thought he loved the club, just like we do…you could well be right, GunneRay.. seems funny, the timing & everything… I just hope we get some money for him & wish him well

        1. And what is UE supposed to have done to him, apart from selecting teams without him due to his injury.
          Apparently Sue and GunneRay, the only parts of the contract that matter are those that apply to the employer Arsenal FC; clauses that apply to the player should not be enforced.

  5. I still value his 9 years of service.
    I’m not going to start hating him just for this incident. 9 years is a long time these days. And he was our star CB and helped us stay in the top 4 for years

    If he wants to leave let him but not at any price. Get some decent money for him, at least £5 million

    We need money to sign new players and every penny counts

  6. Let Bielik step up! Always liked him. Why risk loosing him? Put Mustafa on the bench instead

  7. This guy is in the priveleged position of being a footballer and still moaning. Arsenal owe him nothing.

    It is ridiculous he is now throwing his toys out of the pram. Get him out and away from the club and let one of the youngsters take his place.

    Sell or release – but get him away from Arsenal before the start of the season.

    Spoilt brat having a tantrum. Get out Kos!

    1. Being a footballer is not a “privileged position”… He’s worked hard to get to where he is. And as long as he’s clear on the reasons behind his actions and you’re not, it’s best to zip it and spare yourself looking the fool. Look up word definitions next time, before throwing them out there.

  8. He can go as he is well past it but cant just expect to leave without the club receiving a fee for him. Allthough he is old he still has some value & any money we receive can go towards getting a deal across the line for someone else. Just because the player has been with us for many years does not mean he calls all the shots. He has been well looked after since he has been with arsenal & paid very well!!! A contract is a contract that works both ways because lets face if we could offload some of the over paid deadwood for nothing we would jump at the chance but do you think those players being greatly over paid would leave straight away if asked by the club? I dont think so!

  9. Offer Mustafi to Roma for a nominal fee of £10m then agree to release Kocielney on a “free”. Neither of these two are indespensible and can easily be replaced by Beilik and Chambers with the added bonus of reducing our excessive wage bill.A realistic approach must be adopted in these circumstances .

    1. Yeah I agree Grandad.The way Mustafi lost his man yesterday is just too common an occurrence.He had no idea where Lewandowski was and although it was a perfect header he was completely unmarked with time to direct his effort with no challenge.How many times has this happened before?We allow too many crosses into our box and have done for far too many years now.We never learn.
      We have Holding coming back soon it seems which is good news.I would prefer Mavo,Chambers and Bielik over this clown.If they make mistakes and learn from them then that is more than Mustafi has done.The sooner he is out the sooner we can begin to at least see how good the young CB’s we have really are.

  10. I think if Koscielny will not apologise for his unprofessional misconduct to Arsenal FC for no justifiable reason but tantamount to abandoning his post to go AWOL missing from work without express permission from his employers – Arsenal, I think Arsenal should show him it’s the club that employed him but not him that employed himself. Consequently, Arsenal should stop paying him his weekly wages until he re-commit himself to Arsenal by taking a flight to the USA immediately at his own cost to join the Gunners who are there touring and playing pre-season games. Koscielny should know that he’s 2 pre-season games behind that Arsenal have all won. And he’s also late for pre-season training sessions even if he decides to link up with his colleagues to start training and playing for Arsenal. But for his been late to pre-season training in USA if he took a flight there reporting for pre-season training before the club plays the next game, the club should fine him his 3 weekly wages for reporting late for pre-season training in USA. And also fine him another 2 of his weekly wages for missing 2 scheduled pre-season matches in USA. Then, fine him his 3 weekly wages for his act of insubordination to the club’s constituted authority. Thus bring the total fines Koscielny should be fined to 8 weekly wages of his weekly wages at Arsenal if he repented in time.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors