It appears that Arsenal team captain Laurent Koscielny will now see his wish, to be transferred to another club, granted. The Frenchman defender, who refused to go on tour to the United States with the rest of the team this preseason, will be back to his homeland.
According to L’Equipe, Arsenal have reached a deal with Bordeaux for the transfer of Koscielny, who will turn 34 next month to Bordeaux.
The transaction is contingent upon completion of his medical, which is reportedly scheduled for today.
Koscielny, who has been with the club since 2010, and was in the first team most of that time until he tore his Achilles in 2018, has one year left on his Arsenal deal.
However, he was unhappy about the new deal that he was offered from the club and he then opted to hold out this preseason. Although he’s clearly not the same player he used to be prior to the Achilles injury, his loss will still be felt at the Emirates, especially now as the Gunners only have until Thursday (transfer window deadline day) to replace him.
That’s a major problem, as the back line was Arsenal’s biggest problem area last season, and they have done nothing to address it this transfer window.
Of course, even in spite of all this, you just can’t keep somebody who won’t stay, so this deal is definitely in the best interests of all involved.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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