Arsenal have recently held talks with French club Rennes over a move for club captain Laurent Koscielny, according to reports in BBC(via Daily Star).
The center back appears to be on his way out of the club after he refused to travel with the squad on their pre-season tour of the USA.
The report in BBC claims that Arsenal’s newly appointed technical director Edu has spoken with Olivier Letang, the president of Rennes to thrash out a deal. It further states that the French defender has no intention of playing for the Gunners anymore.
This is good news for Koscielny after it became clear that he wanted to leave the club and go back to his home country. He is the longest-serving player at the Emirates right now but he feels that it is time for him to look for a new challenge.
Even Unai Emery hinted that the captain could leave the club. When asked about his captain for the season, he mentioned that new players were needed as a result of Petr Cech and Aaron Ramsey leaving and now ‘possibly’ Laurent Koscielny as well.
It would definitely be a loss for the club should Koscielny leave but if a player does not want to be at the club, then there is no point in keeping him. It seems that the club also understands this and has started preparing for life after the captain leaves.
They are interested in bringing in Italian defender Daniele Rugani on a loan deal to compensate for the departure of Koscielny. The Frenchman has to be lauded for coming back from a career-threatening injury suffered at the end of the 2017/18 season. He came back in impressive fashion that showed the extent of his fighting spirit.
If he has indeed played his last game for the Gunners, it would be a shame that his last match will be the 4-1 Europa League final defeat to Chelsea. Now the club will be looking at getting a fee for Koscielny instead of losing him on a free.
It will be good for the Gunners if they can sort out a deal as soon as possible. They will want to go into the new season with a fresh mind and if there are players that do not want be at the club, they will have to leave.
