Laurent Koscielny

[Humble Rex]

Because he is a pretty unknown French dude it´s credible? Or do you mean something else?

 

[Klaus Daimler]

No, that's pretty much why. He fits the type of player we're looking for and I think it's someone Wenger would be aware about. It just seems like a very pointless exercise to fabricate a rumour about a completely unknown player. Ribery would sell papers. Benzema would sell papers. But Laurent Koscielny? When we get linked to players like that there's usually something to it. Doesn't mean we'll end up signing him, but I do believe that we've shown interest on some level.

 

[Captain]

£8m seems steep for a mid-table french defender.

 

[irishgunnerz]

Hmm we get linked to random french league players all the time Klaus chantome, mbia to name but two

 

[Paddy from Sweden]

@ Klaus Daimler,

Depends on where the rumour comes from. If it origins from France you could argument that they sell papers as it's a rumour about a player going to a big club. In this case a club that is well-known in France cause a certain connection.

You could say it's the other way around from your example Klaus. But I agree that this is a much more believable rumour than the usual ones we've seen so far.

 

[Humble Rex]

Someone even started the absurd rumour that Cesc is going to Barca. Just to sell papers! No shame, no shame I say!

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Paddy: Sure, but he's not exactly playing for Lyon. And in this case it looks like The Mirror is the source. I've seen them quoted on a couple of french messageboards.

Looks like Koscielny is rated by the Lyon fans, by the way. They've been linked to him too. I haven't watched Lorient at all so I've no idea how good he is, but it appears that he's well-liked. stiiphunn might be able to tell us a bit more the next time he logs on.

I found a quote from sport24.com too:

"I like England and Germany. I'll be 25 in September... But I will not go abroad to go to a mid-table club, it is useless. I prefer to stay in France. The sporting challenge is really the most important thing. Again, I really want to play the European Cup, told us that Laurent Koscielny particularly enjoys "big four clubs in the Championship of France."

I don't know, there is something about this rumour that makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[Paddy from Sweden]

Ah, so the rumour comes from an English paper and not from France. Interesting!

This is the kinda rumour that makes me "excited".

 

[ivansen]

Even if it fits with Wengers transfer policy, it doesn't mean the rumour is likely to be true.

Agents might be fingering this heavily. To get the contract or transfer fee they want.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Hmm we get linked to random french league players all the time Klaus chantome, mbia to name but two

Aye, but our interest in Chantome was genuine too. Wenger spoke about it later on. I bet we were interested in M'Bia a year or two back as well.

 

[ivansen]

We probably are interested on some level, as he fits our criteria(or so we believe). All defenders in Europe playing at a level below their ability, with certain attributes, as they say in FM, are bound to be on our radar. And we should be delighted that we have such a fantastic scouting network.

 

[Abs]

Never seen him or heard of him, but he looks like a no nonesense guy in the picture the Mirror showed. Sign him I say, how bad can he really be :wink:

 

[wellington]

I'd say he's definitely being considered. Looks exactly like a Wenger signing. And he's at the right stage of his career for our requirements.

But as always, Wenger will have 4 or 5 CB prospects being pursued concurrently, because he can't be assuredof who will say yes, or what the price will be etc. Or, in this case, which of our existing CBs will remain.

 

[Captain]

Never seen him or heard of him, but he looks like a no nonesense guy in the picture the Mirror showed. Sign him I say, how bad can he really be :wink:

This bad:

 

[Humble Rex]

 

[Asterix]

Cygan was a monster on the left wing...

Koscielny sounds exactly like the sort of player that Wenger will buy. We'd all prefer somoeone with a higher profile, but we'll get this guy for sure. I guess he'd fight it out with Djourou to start next season.

 

[USArsenal]

what makes him any better of a signing than someone like Kjaer? other than a couple years of playing on a lower-profile team, and probably being a bit cheaper, why bother with him when he could have someone who will be a big player for years to come and already a full international?

 

[Y va marquer]

This rumour definitely has the ring of truth about it....so not knowing anything about Kos I checked out his thread on a Lorient fan forum (obviously the comments are biased ).

They are almost unanimous in their view that he had a brilliant first season with them.
There were initial doubts and a belief that he would have difficulty adapting from L2 to L1 but they were wiped out following his assured performances at the beginning of the season.
Seemingly he has good positional awareness, anticipates well, EXCELLENT header of the ball, very difficult to get past, doesn’t give away many frees and is highly motivated.
He had one "bad match" against Boulogne but otherwise he was considered “le patron de la defence” for the 09/10 season.

Apparently both Arsenal and Man u have been interested in him for a few years and he was checked out several times by our people when he played for Tours in Ligue 2.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.fclweb.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4032" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.fclweb.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4032</a>

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Interesting stuff, Y Va.

what makes him any better of a signing than someone like Kjaer? other than a couple years of playing on a lower-profile team, and probably being a bit cheaper, why bother with him when he could have someone who will be a big player for years to come and already a full international?

Maybe Wenger doesn't think Kjaer is the best partner for Vermaelen. Or perpaps Kjaer doesn't feel like moving to a big club at this stage of his career just to sit on the bench. Maybe Wenger just plain out thinks this guy is a better player. Assuming that we're actually interested in either Koscielny or Kjaer. I don't know. Do you?

I'm far from convinced that Kjaer will be a big player for years to come for the record. He's very promising but I've seen a lot of defenders who used to be very promising. It's about continuing his development at this stage. Being a danish international is not really a great feat in the scheme of things (sorry Vikes).

 

[GoonerAG]

Oh dear, if this is what we have been building ourselves up for, then Cesc may as well pack his bags back to mummy and daddy asap. As for the rest of us, well God help us...