Footie Central | Football Blog Blogging the football world
The future of Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny is set to be decided in the next few days.
The 33-year old Frenchman is in dispute with the club after stunning Arsenal officials and fans alike by refusing to join the Gunners’ pre-season tour of America, amidst claims from his camp that he was being denied a promised move back to France.
Arsenal for their part have taken a very dim view of his actions and his lack of professionalism, accusing him of breach of contract by effectively going on strike.
Now it appears that he will get his wish and be allowed to leave the club, having agreed personal terms with Ligue 1 sides Rennes and Bordeaux.
What remains to be determined is whether there is any fee involved and the size. Koscielny believes he should be allowed to leave for free given his nine years of loyal service to the club, whilst Arsenal are holding out of close to £10 million, given that he still has one year left on his current contract at the Emirates.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.