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Laurent Koscielny

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Flying Okapis

Most Well-Known Member
Maybe he is hoping to be released on a free so he gets a nice big signing on fee? But not sure how that works with his current loyalty bonus.

I'd imagine so, will be interesting to find out how much they would be willing to give him, but this is what I find odd and agree with the clubs decision.

If Bordeaux are planning on giving Koscielny a big signing on fee, lets say 500k then I can see why Arsenal have an issue with it, why should Arsenal release him on a free for Bordeaux to pay him a big sum direct, whatever fee they are willing to pay as a signing on fee should be a transfer fee to Arsenal.

Bordeaux get a player for free, Kos gets a contract and money, Arsenal get nothing..? :lol:
 

BigPoppaPump

Reeling from Laca & Kos nightmares
Opposition forwards knew he was timid and knew they could bully him. They knew he'd never fight back. Again like I said, excellent when it comes to his tackling, recoveries, interceptions and the likes but there were clear limitations that were exposed time and time again throughout the years. A lot of the time, unfortunately for us, happened to be in big games.

The only reason he was good at tackling and recovering is because he was always out of position so he had to come with a recovery tackle. He doesn't excel at anything.

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Better angle:

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Hleb's Sirush

Established Member
I'd imagine so, will be interesting to find out how much they would be willing to give him, but this is what I find odd and agree with the clubs decision.

If Bordeaux are planning on giving Koscielny a big signing on fee, lets say 500k then I can see why Arsenal have an issue with it, why should Arsenal release him on a free for Bordeaux to pay him a big sum direct, whatever fee they are willing to pay as a signing on fee should be a transfer fee to Arsenal.

Bordeaux get a player for free, Kos gets a contract and money, Arsenal get nothing..? :lol:

He just wants to shaft us. Absolutely not a single benefit to us what he is demanding.

It is even cheekier when you realise not long ago he got a bad injury that kept him out for a large chunk of the season. Wonder how he would have liked if we suggested then we would cancel his contract. He would probably have run to the players' union crying his eyes out.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
If we somehow give in and let Kos go without a fee, we might as wel pack it in as a club. He needs to be made an example of. Let Bordeaux or whoever is interested in him pay a fee or he can rot in the reserves.

What a time to be alive. A player like Kos (current version) trying to dictate the terms of his employment with us.
Kos gave his best years to this club never complaining about anything. He is finished at the top level so it's understandable that he wants to move to a less demanding competition. What I would expect from this club is to say thank you for giving everything to us, and at the age of 34 wish him all the best in the future.
If the club wants to make an example of someone, there are plenty of players who **** their pants every time we need them, from faking injuries to playing on 40% on away game.
Let the veteran finish his career with some dignity, he is 34 with some serious injury problems in recent years.
We are becoming an absolute disgrace of a club, from transfers to player management.
 

blaze_of_glory

Moderator
Moderator

Country: Canada
Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny has refused to travel on the club's pre-season tour of the US.

The 33-year-old France defender is out of contract at the end of the 2019-20 season and is a reported target for French clubs Bordeaux, Rennes and Lyon.

"We are very disappointed by Laurent's actions, which are against our clear instructions," said Arsenal.

"We hope to resolve this matter and will not be providing any further comment at this time."

Bordeaux have reportedly offered Koscielny a three-year deal.

The central defender joined Arsenal in the summer of 2010 for a fee of around £10m.

Towards the end of last season, Arsenal and Koscielny were in negotiations over a contract extension - most likely for an additional year on top of his remaining 12 months.

The conversation was progressing positively but then Arsenal were beaten by Chelsea in the Europa League final, a result that has had major repercussions for the Gunners.

As well as causing significant damage to their recruitment plans and possibilities, it also changed certain situations regarding existing players and none more so than Koscielny.

The 33-year-old is understood to have become increasingly discontent since his return in December from an Achilles injury, primarily over the management of his playing schedule and the direction in which he feels the team and club are moving.

While Koscielny was optimistic that Champions League qualification could lead to a better future for both parties - hence the contract talks - missing out exacerbated his misgivings and led him to decide the time had come to move back to France.

On returning from a summer break and with firm interest from clubs in his homeland, Koscielny informed Arsenal of his wish to leave and hoped his nine years of service and professionalism until this point would help achieve an amicable resolution.

However, Arsenal rejected the request and made it clear that they need and expect the Frenchman to honour his contract and be a key part of their squad in the coming campaign.

Given that head coach Unai Emery was happy with Koscielny's performance in 2018-19 and already faces other issues in central defence, the view was that he could only go if a bid landed that reflected his value and importance to Arsenal.

Koscielny argues that Arsenal are reneging on an agreement that would allow him exit as a free agent during the current transfer window, something the Gunners strenuously deny.

He is also thinks Arsenal have - or will receive - an "acceptable" offer, but some privy to the proposal admit that "acceptable" is subjective and others insist there is nothing on table.

When Koscielny told Emery in a face-to-face meeting on Wednesday morning that he would not be joining the team on their pre-season tour to the USA, the Spaniard was furious.

Arsenal's head of football Raul Sanllehi later sent Koscielny a message expressing bitter disappointment and warning the player that not travelling would be in breach of contract.

Koscielny replied emphasising his stance and on arrival at Arsenal's London Colney training ground on Thursday morning the captain confirmed he would not be boarding the flight.

He will be required to train alongside the players who are not on the America trip - mainly youngsters - with disciplinary proceedings under way to determine his punishment.

Arsenal officials are fuming about the situation, which from a sporting perspective gives them a headache in central defence - an area they were already looking to strengthen this window.

They are close to completing the 30m euros signing of William Saliba from Saint-Etienne, however the 18-year-old will be loaned back to the Ligue 1 side for the entirety of next season.

Meanwhile, Rob Holding is recovering from a knee injury and there are concerns over the development and readiness of Konstantinos Mavropanos to provide a credible option.

Arsenal are keen to sell Shkodran Mustafi but the German is under contract until 2021 and has no desire to depart.


https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48948345
 

RacingPhoton

Established Member
Most disappointing thing about it was it was our new manager who did that (played Cech under those circumstances).
Yeah. Most people supported Cech saying he is a professional. I don't know what defines professional here. Striking a deal with a club you are going to play against,in a cup final? Above all, what kind of message does it send to the players and fans? We are a club willing to put up with all this bullshit. We should have reacted in a similar way then. Just drop him from the match and make a public statement- "Cech negotiated with Chelsea for a position before we were going to play the final against them. We find it unprofessional and hence we dropped him"

Do that once and everyone else will fold their tails. I am pretty sure that if we had done that, Koscielny would have thought twice before doing something like this. Anyway, there is a first time for everything. The way we deal with this situation will set a tone for many more years. I am proud of the way we handled the situation with Koscielny so far.
 

Jury

A-M's drunk uncle
****ing Mustafi, the ****. What it is now, with these German internationals content with watching their careers go down the drain for a pound note, at an age when they should be looking to win stuff? And then you've got some French cripple who's gone the other way and wont play for us despite being under contract...

Hire a good hitman and make the ****s all disappear.
 

Hleb's Sirush

Established Member
Kos gave his best years to this club never complaining about anything. He is finished at the top level so it's understandable that he wants to move to a less demanding competition. What I would expect from this club is to say thank you for giving everything to us, and at the age of 34 wish him all the best in the future.
If the club wants to make an example of someone, there are plenty of players who **** their pants every time we need them, from faking injuries to playing on 40% on away game.
Let the veteran finish his career with some dignity, he is 34 with some serious injury problems in recent years.
We are becoming an absolute disgrace of a club, from transfers to player management.

He did give his best years to the club. And for most part I think he did a decent job. Not amazing but not crap too. However we aren't a charity. We can't be sympathetic to everyones needs and forget about what is the best for the club.

If we feel he is isn't useful to us at all then we would have let him go on a free. You can't let players have it both ways. We can't get rid of Mustafi because of his high wages relative to his abilities, yet we have to honour his contract.

Loyalty works both ways. Arsenal have been loyal to Kos too, rewarding him with lucrative contracts, getting paid even when off with longterm injuries. It isn't like he was playing all these years for us for free.

So suddenly when he finds an option that is really good for him, both financially, longer term, and location, he wants us to just disregard Arsenal's interests and fulfil his purely selfish interests?

I meant being made an example of, because if he gets away with it we will be opening a whole new can of worms.

Btw before he pulled this stunt I was a huge supporter of Kos (not so much his last 2 years, when the decline really set in). Felt he was a decent defender, also he seemed a decent bloke. But the more we know about him the more he comes across as a weak willed, fragile, not a leader at all. Ironically now is the most fight he has shown in a long time.
 

TheEconomist

Established Member
Just let the guy go. How much are we really going to get for him anyway ? 500k? That's like a months wages. Why keep him at this age if he doesn't want to be here. He knows himself he isn't up to it so why force him to remain? So we can slate him in 2 months time when he lets us down ? He's been good to us and never caused us any hassle. Just give him this tiny favour
 

Jury

A-M's drunk uncle
Kos gave his best years to this club never complaining about anything. He is finished at the top level so it's understandable that he wants to move to a less demanding competition. What I would expect from this club is to say thank you for giving everything to us, and at the age of 34 wish him all the best in the future.
If the club wants to make an example of someone, there are plenty of players who **** their pants every time we need them, from faking injuries to playing on 40% on away game.
Let the veteran finish his career with some dignity, he is 34 with some serious injury problems in recent years.
We are becoming an absolute disgrace of a club, from transfers to player management.
I agree with a lot of that. Genuinely torn, now you put it that way. You could never accuse him of stealing a living.
 

Country: Iceland
Rebuilding phase will take longer than 2-3 years I expected. People who thought it would just take 1 season were kidding them selves. We might be looking at something like 4-5 years unless Ljungberg works miracles with the squad next season!

So many players we need to get rid of but they just don't want to leave. And then we have 33 year old past it broken CB who wants to finish his career back home, 9 years of great service and captain and we decide to pick a beef with him.

What a weird methods...
 

squallman

Still Pining for Wenger
Loyalty is a two way street as @Maybe pointed out. I don't blame either party in this scenario really. It's business, Kos is doing what he thinks is best for him, likewise for the club.

I disabused myself of the notion that any of the players truly care about the club years ago. Every single one of them from Jenkinson to Özil is here because it's in their best professional interest to be here and when one of them decides it isn't. He will leave, simple as that. They're professional footballers and this is just a job to them. They care about the club the same way you care about your job.

With that out of the way, as for Koscielny the player. Truth be told if the club forced Jenkinson, Elneny, Mustafi or any clogger out of the squad. Would any of us really care? When a player is good the club wants to keep him to use him, if a player is awful or no longer of any use, the club ships them out the door with nary a care as to what happens afterwards. Of course some players make their own beds through bad decisions like Hleb but a football club will only show loyalty towards a useful asset. The minute you lose that usefulness, they'll drop you like a bad habit, see Casillas at Real Madrid. Again that's why I don't blame Koscielny for looking out for his best interest.

Yes this is poor form from him and the club did give him a platform but despite how often we ship goals and lose big games, Arsenal isn't a charity. We only gave him those big contracts and a platform to perform because he was a great defender and we wanted to keep him. It's been a two way street.

However, I am disappointed with how the club is handling this right now. This is supposed to be the Arsenal, a club with class. This isn't some no mark like Park Chu Young or Mustafi kicking up a fuss. This is Koscielny, loyal servant for 9 years, turning down Bayern and Barcelona to stay here. Winner of 3 FA Cups and even scored in a cup final. He's also 33, not 28. If there was one time the club should have just bent and acquiesce to the player's wishes it's now. Even if you don't want to release him, don't release a statement like that. Say he's injured, tell Kos and his agent to stay away from the press while you try to work something out.

I'm disappointed in everyone right now
 

RacingPhoton

Established Member
Loyalty is a two way street as @Maybe pointed out. I don't blame either party in this scenario really. It's business, Kos is doing what he thinks is best for him, likewise for the club.

I disabused myself of the notion that any of the players truly care about the club years ago. Every single one of them from Jenkinson to Özil is here because it's in their best professional interest to be here and when one of them decides it isn't. He will leave, simple as that. They're professional footballers and this is just a job to them. They care about the club the same way you care about your job.

With that out of the way, as for Koscielny the player. Truth be told if the club forced Jenkinson, Elneny, Mustafi or any clogger out of the squad. Would any of us really care? When a player is good the club wants to keep him to use him, if a player is awful or no longer of any use, the club ships them out the door with nary a care as to what happens afterwards. Of course some players make their own beds through bad decisions like Hleb but a football club will only show loyalty towards a useful asset. The minute you lose that usefulness, they'll drop you like a bad habit, see Casillas at Real Madrid. Again that's why I don't blame Koscielny for looking out for his best interest.

Yes this is poor form from him and the club did give him a platform but despite how often we ship goals and lose big games, Arsenal isn't a charity. We only gave him those big contracts and a platform to perform because he was a great defender and we wanted to keep him. It's been a two way street.

However, I am disappointed with how the club is handling this right now. This is supposed to be the Arsenal, a club with class. This isn't some no mark like Park Chu Young or Mustafi kicking up a fuss. This is Koscielny, loyal servant for 9 years, turning down Bayern and Barcelona to stay here. Winner of 3 FA Cups and even scored in a cup final. He's also 33, not 28. If there was one time the club should have just bent and acquiesce to the player's wishes it's now. Even if you don't want to release him, don't release a statement like that. Say he's injured, tell Kos and his agent to stay away from the press while you try to work something out.

I'm disappointed in everyone right now
We have been bending over for players' wishes for years. We have to start being assertive at some point of time. If that time is now, so be it. Yes. There are footballers who play for passion and love of the club and game. Not many people fall into that category. Even if you see this just as a job, when your manager asks you to come for a meeting and you say that you won't come, will he sit and watch?

Not going to a match in spite of being asked to, is downright stupid. No excuse for that. The club's response is perfectly fine. If we don't do that, who is to say that someone else will not try repeating the same thing and try leaving for free so that he could get a higher salary?
 

RacingPhoton

Established Member
Kos gave his best years to this club never complaining about anything. He is finished at the top level so it's understandable that he wants to move to a less demanding competition. What I would expect from this club is to say thank you for giving everything to us, and at the age of 34 wish him all the best in the future.
If the club wants to make an example of someone, there are plenty of players who **** their pants every time we need them, from faking injuries to playing on 40% on away game.
Let the veteran finish his career with some dignity, he is 34 with some serious injury problems in recent years.
We are becoming an absolute disgrace of a club, from transfers to player management.
He gave the best years of his career to the club, not for free. He is a player under contract. He should fulfill it. There are so many ways he could have handled this problem. Not traveling with the team even after asked to, is an insult to the club.
 
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