Laurent Koscielny: Arsenal. Francis Coquelin: Lorient



By Tony Attwood (on my birthday!)

Arsenal have provisionally struck a deal, subject to the usual personal terms, a medical and a cup of tea, with FC Lorient for centre back Laurent Koscielny, according to our pals at Young Guns.  (OK I know I keep mentioning that site, but as a source of accurate info it is unsurpassed, and if you are not reading it – after reading Untold of course – then you jolly well should be!) 

No fee details have been released although it is expected to be over €10 million euros with the usual extra bits relating to appearances for club and country, number of goals scored, number of commercials appeared in, number of ice creams melted, amount of champagne drunk…  (are you sure about this last bit? – editor.  Yes perfectly sure – editor.  Did you go out for a birthday bash last night? – editor.  Yes – editor.  Why are you talking to yourself? – editor.  Well, you know.)

Koscielny is 24, and he’s six feet one inch tall. He began playing as a professional as a full back at En Avant de Guingamp.  He moved into the centre when he joined Tours FC in 2007. In  2008/9 he scored 5 goals in 34 games playing in defence – mostly in the centre.

In May 2009, the National Union of Professional Footballers in France named Koscielny in Ligue 2’s team of the season and in June last year FC Lorient signed Koscielny on a four-year contract for around €1.5 million  – which means that within one year they have made a rather exciting profit.   He played 35 times last season and scored three goals.

Koscielny can play for France (wherein he would get the chance to stage walk outs, refuse to play and generally protest about stuff) or Poland.  Reports suggest he is in the process of applying for Polish citizenship, along with his French citizenship.

Which means (all being well, and the deal being done) we have

  • Vermaelen, Koscielny and Djourou as centre backs, with Song as a back up, back, if you see what I mean.
  • After that it is any one of Gallas, Campbell, Silvestre.

Then there is the option of someone coming through from the Golden 30 – maybe Nordtveit. We could even use Jay Emmanuel Thomas on the bench knowing he could play in any position in the event of half the team being kicked to death by Blackburn, Bolton and the like. You can read the whole   golden 30 list here.

And as regularly reported (and as is now confirmed on the Lorient official web site, (where even my uneven French can do a better job that Google’s auto translation software) are taking Francis Coquelin (who is not Polish at all, and has played for France at under-19 international level. He will be with the club next week when pre-season training starts.)

There is speculation that the link with Lorient is the latest attempt by Arsenal to find a club with which it can develop serious relationships over the exchange and development of players – the deal with Salamanca seeming to have hit the dust.

I’ve been raving about Coquelin since he turned up in a pre-season game a couple of years back, and he is one of only a handful of players to have broken into the youth squad that did the double two years ago, without having been signed as a child.

Finally, a spot of detail about our new partners, if that is what they turn out to be…

FC Lorient

Lorient were formed as an amateur side in 1926.  They joined the regional third division, but progressed to join the Division d’Honneur in 1929.  (Division d’Honneur was the top league in France until 1933 when it was replaced with the national league, and French football moved to its modern form).

The club did not become pro until 1967–1977 but then became amateur again until 1988–1991.  Then they once more became amateur. In 1995 they took the plunge for the final time.

The club won the French Cup in 2002 and were finalists in the League Cup that year.  In the 2005/6 the club finished third in Ligue 2, and were  promoted to Ligue 1.

In recent seasons Lorient finished 14th, 10th, 10th and 7th.   Their full title is FC Lorient Bretagne Sud and they play in Lorient, Brittany.   I think.

Is the print on this screen jumping around rather a lot today, or is it just me? Editor.

Untold Arsenal type things

Read the book, its ever so good

24 Replies to “Laurent Koscielny: Arsenal. Francis Coquelin: Lorient”

  1. May I be the first to wish you “Many Happy returns of the day “, Tony?
    Have a drink ( or two )on me – I’ ll pay the tab when we meet.
    Hope the deal works out and we get a spanking new CF,as requested ,nay ,demanded by the fans.Lets just hope he turns out to be as good as TV .

  2. Now isn’t that a nice gesture from AW to give you a new player for you birthday Tony? 😉 That’s the advantage of having your birthday in the transfer window. But this year Wenger can give me a happy birthday by winning against Utd.

    A happy one, Tony.

  3. So, at least 2 Cancerian gooners on this site. You also being a Cancerian explains a lot! 🙂

    Happy, Happy.

  4. Happy birthday!
    Great website- with a positive slant as opposed to all the negative stuff out there!

    Great read

  5. boldog születésnapot! As well my wife will be 29 in a few days!

    Great post yesterday too as I did not have a chance to comment!

  6. Hi guys, I think Håvard Nordtveit can be part of arsenal plan this coming season.

  7. best wishes Tony. Long may your blend of irreverent humor and cold financial analysis rule the football blogosphere

  8. Many Happy returns !!! keep up the good work even if we dont always see eye to eye 🙂

  9. Breithla shona duit a Tony!
    As we say in once a year in Ireland. Keep up the good work.

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