fbpx

Arsenal confirm Laurent Koscielny departure

Image result for koscielny

Arsenal have officially confirmed that defender Laurent Koscielny has ended his long-term association with the club to join Bordeaux in the French Ligue 1.

The former France international refused to travel with the club for their pre-season tour of the United States earlier this month, and manager Unai Emery thereafter confirmed that the 33-year-old had made the decision to part ways with the club.

As such, the centre-back was widely expected to head through the exit door during the transfer window and a formal announcement has now been made with the former club captain returning to familiar surroundings in France with Bordeaux.

Emery has recently hinted that the departure of Koscielny could trigger the need for a new centre-back and that certainly appears the case with both Juventus’ Daniele Rugani and RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano emerging as targets in the past 24 hours.

Among those, it has been reported that the Gunners have agreed to personal terms with Rugani, but a two-year loan agreement with the Bianconeri could be dependent on whether they are willing to accept an obligatory buy option for the Italy international.

On the other hand, Emery’s side are understood to have failed with an opening £55m bid for Upamecano, but The Mail claims that the deal could still be on the cards, should the Gunners accept to place Emile Smith-Rowe as a makeweight to pursue the France youth international.

A double central defensive signing seems surprising at the present point of time, but it can be regarded as an excellent piece of business, should the club pull of both deals before the Premier League transfer window shuts on Thursday.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe for notification