Laurent Koscielny’s Arsenal career could be over within the next 48 hours with RMC claiming Rennes have stepped up their pursuit of the former France international.
The Gunners had wanted to keep the 34-year-old beyond his current contract, which ends next summer, but in refusing to join the first team squad’s tour of the US, the defender has made his position at the Emirates untenable.
While we’ve not yet stripped him of the captaincy, it’s believed he has been forced to train with the youngsters at London Colney. It was suggested earlier in the summer that a £10 million asking price had been used to ward off potential suitors, including Borussia Dortmund. Given the circumstances, we’re now likely to settle for a much smaller fee.
While we were prepared to offer Koscielny a one-year extension, seemingly on performance-led terms, Bordeaux and Rennes are happy to lure him in with at least a two-year offer. Given his recent injury problems, it’s not wholly surprising that the player is attracted by the security of a longer contract.
The Telegraph reported today that Raul Sanllehi returned from America prematurely to work on Arsenal’s transfer business while French publication Sud Ouest says talks were held throughout the night to thrash out an agreement between the Gunners and Rennes. They even claim a press conference has been organised for tomorrow.
I’ve no ill will toward Kos, but I am fretting about our centre back options for next season.
Bosstafi doesn’t have the same ring to it.
And it’s fairly unlikely he could ever earn that moniker.
Don’t worry, Mustafi will gift someone the Denver Broncos (I know they’re not the Dallas Cowboys) after his takeover of the East Coast this week.
Mustafi is clearly a BIG liability now – look at his terrible showing against Fiorentina. He may have to leave on a free though because, surprise, surprise, nobody wants to buy him. I wonder why?
Might be an unpopular stance but I say let him rot in the reserves. Time to stand up to players who are taking the piss. He is/was our captain and we are massively short in CD. He is trying to desert the club when he is needed most and was quite happy to draw his salary whilst injured. Fucks me off. Let him rot and then see who gives him a 3 year contract next year.
Spot on !!
Musloppy.
Mus the Bus
It’s disappointing this new-found ruthlessness has come at the expense of the two most professional, hard working and committed players of the last decade. While serial underperformers get new contracts, Ramsey and Koscielny have got nothing but a short shrift. It leaves me with real sour taste and is just not the Arsenal way at all.
Fair enough mate. If you want your last hurrah to be at a mid table Ligue 1 club, all the best. Just always thought you had a bit more desire than that.
Such a shame. We could have offered him a 2 year deal .
Last season he was still our best defender.
With a good rest he could have played a lot more this season with breaks and the season after he could have played the cup games.
Especially as we still have young CBs who could have learned a lot from him.
Still love you Bosscielny.
If Rennes want Kos… we better get Ismaïla Sarr as part of the deal, he looked really good against us.
But alas we know how weak we are in the market, so we will give in and let Kos go for next to nothing. When we should use him as an example and have play with the under 23’s until he has a change of heart or his contract up
It really didn’t need to end like this.
You are right, but our club is poorly managed, and this is another example that Kronk is pulling us down. I am not saying things were amazing during the last year’s of Wenger, but since he left, the shit has been hitting the fan way too many times behind closed doors at Arsenal. I am still pissed about th rdd Ramsey situation, and now this. All I can say is that expect more shit to go down in the next few seasons.
Don’t agree that the club handled this particularly badly. Koscielny is the club captain and should have been far more professional. The sooner he goes the better for all parties in my opinion. The Ramsey situation, as you call it, was down to finances. We’re in a very poor financial position (read The Arsenal Supporter’s Trust report online if you doubt it). Thanks to crazy wage deals agreed by the previous management team, where the likes of Ozil is on £350,000 and Mustafi £150,000 a week for little return, there just wasn’t/isn’t the money to pay massive salaries to other… Read more »
It really should not have ended like this.
curious to see the fee. My expectations are already low, but we haven’t been the keenest sellers. Of course, the player hasn’t helped here, either.
£10M for a soon-to-be 34 year old who only just returned from a serious career-threatening injury in the twilight of his career with a year left was never really going to happen.
Sad it’s ended this way, but I still wish Kos Da Boss an honourable fair well. I judge him on his 9 years here, not just on the last few days of his arsenal career.
I can’t think I’ll of Kos, but shame it’s gone down like this.
What a shame, he’ll still be a legend despite this but a sort of modern plastic premier league sort of a legend. A kind of hollow commercial legend written by the bard Brendan Rodgers with interspersed adverts for Harry’s bloody razors and Coronation street tours. Soon we’ll all be chanting “Up the Emirates arse” and wearing 50-50 Arsenal-Colorado Rapids shirts and drinking Kronke coke, as advertised by Arsenal legend Laurent Koscielny.
Legend. ????????. Tony Adams is a Legend.
I’ve been saying this all along Martin,, get many thumbs down for say this ,, fuck knows why?
Kos could have gone to any top club in Europe in his prime. Instead he stuck with through thick and thin. I would have had a problem with him if he had f*cked off to better club during those years.
Wrong, he only didn’t leave because he got injured before the WC otherwise he would have done the off a few years back.
I liked Kos but a lot of these players had it safe and nice with Wenger. We stuck with him as well with his injuries while he was getting 90k (I think) per week. You make it sound like he was having it rough at Arsenal…
Injuries?
Oh you must mean the injury caused by arsenal; where we entered the season with just 3 CBs even though we had already overplayed him to develop the chronic tendinitis and then further used cortisol injections to keep him going (well known to cause further soft-tissue weakening) all because we refused to invest properly in our defence, something we were about to do again for the same reasons.
I wish him the best in the future but unfortunately I can’t back him being a legend really. Baffles me that he’d behave this way, especially considering we paid him in full throughout his long recovery and afterwards tried to limit his playing time. The way he’s handled the situation has been disgraceful, and demanding we waive a transfer fee is ridiculous. Even if 10m is too much, he’s still under contract. If someone wants him, they can pay. End of discussion.
Maybe he just couldn’t face being played into the ground for another year. The way he was overplayed when Wenger refused to buy another centreback was the reason he ended up with a chronic injury in the first place, and the way he was made to play three games in a week at the end of last season was a disgrace. That’s how you cripple players and you can bet your life that Emery would have done the same thing again next season. We didn’t try to limit his playing time, the only time we stopped playing him was when… Read more »
Sorry but I’m not buying this viewpoint at all. Did we overplay him? Perhaps. But have we forced him to play against his will? Absolutely not. This is a football club, not a Siberian labour camp; if Kosc isn’t fit to play it’s up to him to declare himself unfit and he’s totally free to do so. As far as I am aware there’s been no suggestion from himself, current or former players, or management staff, that anyone has been coerced into playing when they’re otherwise unwilling to do so due to injury. To suggest this is happening is pure… Read more »
Good defender when in his prime, but no way a legend… let him retire off to France the poor guy will struggle to play once a week…
You are right it’s a shame but the rest is bollocks.
Fuck him. Act like cunt, will be remembered as one.
When it Rennes it pours.
Maybe by fickle ungrateful cunts like you. The rest of us can appreciate his time with us in spite of the sour note it’s ended on.
Way to ruin a legacy I think
This is tarnish territory not ruin. I can’t understand how people are so ready and willing to hate a guy, quite litterally on his last legs as a footballer, wanting a change of pace. Like, you litterally saw this man limping through games, putting his body on the line and you think this is a guy who’s loyalty you should question? Maybe some of you’d only be satisfied when in a desperate bid to recover for the umpteenth Xhaka/Kolasinac/Mustafi brainfart, Koscielny banjaxes himself to the point his Achilles tendon actually just evaporates, in a game where we’re competing for the… Read more »
35 thumbs up to that makes me sad for humanity on the Internet! #Boss
I suspect your tombstone’s inscription will be “Here lies a cunty cunt”
Sounds more like yours I reckon.
YOU’RE AN INANIMATE OBJECT!
I wish Kosh all the best in the future, if he leaves, and now it’s more important than ever to get a really good replacement.
We just can’t allow Mustafi to be a starter. He’s getting worse every game and looks completeley lost and off. If we rely on him that’s it ,we’re fucked. He shouldn’t even get game time in EL as there are players for the future that needs it way more than him.
Edu got some work to do but for once I have confidence someone at the club can do it.
More likely than not, Mustafi will not only be a regular starter…he will play more games than any other defender in the team.
I don’t like it any more than you do, but I think it’ll be a miracle if that isn’t the case. All our other defenders have reasons they won’t play the whole season. Mustafi is terrible, but he’s also practically indestructible – he never seems to get injured.
The Curse of Musloppy.
Will the simpsons take him back?
It is not a bad thing he goes. An unhappy player with serious injury risk in a robust league is asking for trouble at Arsenal. I just hope they don’t try to rely fully on what we already have! Mustafi already looks shaky in pre-season.
Shaky is an understatement. Surely there’s academy players we can play instead. At least they’ll likely learn from mistakes instead of blaming them on everybody else.
Will he would have taken such a drastic step if Arsene was still in charge. I will still wait out for his statement on what made him do this, he was one of my favs after Mertesacker and Sagna so its hard for me to still make amends with his decision. It is sad to see him leave like this but he choose this route. Only time will tell what went behind the scenes for one of the most senior and disciplined players to act that way.
I was there yesterday and as everyone has rightly pointed out, Mustafi did not play well. The issue is that he is absolutely going to play this year with Koscielny leaving, unless we have some mystery CB coming in that no one is reporting. The constant bashing has clearly crushed his confidence, which makes him even more error prone than before. He’s gone from making the occasional egregious error to genuinely looking bad all the time, which I think the fans bear some responsibility for. He was the only player who was boo’ed at all yesterday when he was introduced.… Read more »
Would have loved to have Henderson of Sampdoria to replace him.
But he has joined Lyon. Yet we were linked with him all along
You mean Andersen?
I still believe there is more to this transfer saga/ disciplinary incident than is being reported, as it seems incredibly odd that a player like Kos would agitate like this after not doing so in the past (ie all those Vieira rumors every summer). People are really quick to jump on Koscielny here, but lets give the man some credit: he missed his last opportunity at a WC through injury, his friend Giroud was sold to a rival team (which we lost to in a European final), and now it looks like we cannot fulfill a promise someone likely made… Read more »
Are you serious? An attempt to rationalise his behaviour by suggesting someone broke a promise to him is just breathtakingly stupid. Why don’t you back the club instead of justifying a player’s clear breach of his contract and club’s captain to boot!
Not sure why you struggle to understand why; it comes down to trust. Fans trust Kos due to his past behaviour over 9 years not indicating he is like this. Whereas many of us don’t trust “the club” because it’s now run by Raul; the man behind the Cesc tapping up campaign to Barca and a Neymar deal regarded as so dodgy it got him fired, let alone the Hleb tapping up that clearly happened, or the backstabbing of Sven. So yeah, based on the above it’s more rational to actually WAIT for both sides of the story before coming… Read more »
Kos played through injury many times while at Arsenal, and now he’s at an age where that’s not feasible. A contract extension never made sense for either party because of opposite interests – Arsenal doesn’t want to be stuck with him if he gets hurt, which is exactly the job security Kos needs. Now it seems like Arsenal wanted to get whatever they could out of him for one more season as a bridge to Saliba/Holding/Chambers/Mav, even if that might end his career. After getting played 3 times in a week last season, when clearly risky, Kos should have little… Read more »
Arsenal fans again showing their backs to the player before the truth is out. Can’t we just wait till we know more. Everybody saying that no player is bigger than the club but they don’t mention that the board also aren’t. It is not like Sanllehi is a saint. He is the opposite of that. Arsenal fans wanting respect from the players when they are not capable of showing it themselves. Who would understand.
Yeah this can’t be contract based.
What, leave for a 2 or 3yr contract?
Money wise it surely wouldn’t be much more cash than staying in the PL for 1yr, extending later again possibly, etc.
If he’s got his heart set on heading back to France ASAP due to whatever personal reasons, then it’s a whole other picture.
We know certain facts to make a judgement; he refused to travel, and he is still under contract with club and he is the club captain. Bases on these facts and regardless of anything else, he was in breach of his contract. That is simply indefensible, even with presumed mitigating factors.
Yawn Olivije….Arsenal fans showing their modern day willingness to be more offended at fellow Gooners opinions than about anything else. Some people have stronger views on his behaviour than you do. Get over it.
I am not offended but I don’t like people speaking bad about my players. It is difference between a constructive criticism and hating the player. I hate when they get on a personal level with Mustafi, Xhaka, Elneny, Ozil, Mikhitaryan, Iwobi… and I hate now that are speaking bad about Koscielny without knowing what is going behind the scenes. As long as they are playing for Arsenal I will support them. We are ambassadors of the club also and what we say and what we do all affect on the image of the club. Respect is a two-way street.
What ever the truth is, he acted unprofessionally by refusing to go on the preseason tour, more so as he is captain
While I rate his contribution to our club, he is diminished in my eyes.
We should agree to let him go for a small fee. He’s been a great servant to the club and is at the age where the transition from player to coach is likely to occur. And let’s be honest: he could get a major injury and be out for most of next season anyway. This summer should have been one about spring cleaning not holding onto dead wood. The way that Kos has behaved is unprofessional but the club have been pretty useless too.
Let him go.
Good riddance. He was over-rated by Arsenal fans anyway. Better players have left in similar circumstances and the club moves on.
What a shit way to go out.
I’m not picking a direction to point a finger at this point, but what a shit way to go out.
That said, we’ve had a lack of ruthlessness, so there ya go.
Ainsi soit-il, O dieux de foot…
If he doesn’t want to be at the club let him go and see it as an opportunity for someone like Bielik to be tested. Good luck are farewell Kos.
So ar3 we signing bale in loan?
I’m sorry to see him leave..but who needs the ‘security’ of a two year contract when you’ve been earning six figures weekly for years
Perhaps a blessing in disguise. I was fearful of Kos having a strong season, only to blow his achilles in late March in the midst of a top 4 / Europa League title chase and really throw our season into chaos. At least we know he must be replaced and won’t suffer from the injury crisis it would create. Now all we have to do is sign a center back to actually play for us this year…
What the fuck is Raul doing in the states in the first place???
Begging for money from parasite Stan.
Good move. Koscielny is doing us a massive favour…or at least trying to do so. Looks like what we are trying to do is rely on him one more season niggles and all. Then pretend we made effort to fix Cback with Saliba but really not since he goes off on loan back to origin (and we commit a massive 29m for a player who has barely featured last season, should he prove false we have a huge loss with impact down the road plus we will have issues moving him on) Meanwhile we will attempt to resurrect the best… Read more »
Again just for perspective inconvenient truth to some maybe but we leaked 3 goals at Wolves with the much wanted pairing of Sokratis and Koscielny and we fared no better in Europa finals leaking four goals (one a giveaway from Torreira)
This is the right way to do it. I hope this happens.
And all the best to him if he goes.
Cometh the hour, cometh the Chambers.
Possibly, but isn’t he on Emery’s “departures” list? He did reasonably well at Fulham on loan but remember he had a midfield role for much of the time there, not as a central defender. If we’re honest, he really isn’t that good and we overpaid Southampton (as we often did!) for him. I doubt that, if sold, we’ll get our original £15 million fee back.
The sooner he leaves now the better for all concerned. I think he’s acted in an unprofessional manner not befitting a club captain. No silver lining though – we’ll get very little for him, forget the £8 million+ mentioned in earlier reports. It does leave a big hole in the defence (which, that said, was/is pretty full of holes anyway) with the clearly useless Mustafi still with us. We’ll have to manage as best we can as there doesn’t appear to be any central defenders arriving (Saliba, assuming he signs, is not with us until the season after next, of… Read more »
What’s our Pole’s position?
If Kos had his heart set on going to Rennes couldn’t we maybe have facilitated a part exchange deal to get Ismael Sarr? Then everyone’s happy and we don’t look like imbeciles chasing Zaha and reportedly Pepe. I loved koscielny. Best defender of the emirates era and just genuinely one of our best players in ages. But now, due to some self defence mechanism when I think of him, I am only flooded by the negative. Kicking the ball into his own face to concede an important goal 2 seasons ago Getting absolutely ruined for Giroud’s goal in Europa final… Read more »
So we lose our best center defender and our captain, our best young one (Holding) is coming off of an ACL tear, we look likely to sign a promising young one for a hefty fee for his age and he’ll be out on loan all years, we haven’t unloaded Mustafi yet and right now he is one of our starter central defenders, our starting wing back or right defender (depending upon the formation) is coming off of an ACL tear and not sure when he’ll be back so our only one of any quality is still young and inexperienced, etc..… Read more »
I’m gonna try to take a balanced view on this. Koscielny is 1 of our best centre backs at our club which is a disgrace to the club really because he is A) 34 years old and well past it B) plagued with injuries and C) I cant look past his superb assist to Griezmann in the UEL semis 2 years ago. Shallow of me I know but it isnt his first donkey moment in a big match that has cost us tbf. My view is that in possibly any forward thinking ambitious club he would have been flogged off… Read more »