Laurent Koscielny refuses to travel with Arsenal on tour
Laurent Koscielny has refused to take part in the preseason tour with Arsenal as he looks for a way out of the club.
It it the summer of player rebellions and Arsenal is the latest team to experience it as Laurent Koscielny wants out of Arsenal and is holding out in an effort to force a move.
According to The Guardian, the club have started disciplinary proceedings against the central defender as he wants to return to France. Lyon, Bordeaux, and Rennes are a few of the teams interested in the 33-year-old.
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Arsenal also released a statement about the situation. They stated, “We are very disappointed by Laurent’s actions, which are against our clear instructions. We hope to resolve this matter and will not be providing any further comment at this time.”
Koscielny joins a growing list of players flat-out refusing to train with their respective teams in attempts to go somewhere else. This offseason we’ve seen the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Neymar hold out and a few seasons ago, Ousmane Dembélé also held out for similar reasons. Strangely enough, in their cases, it was to force a move to Barcelona.
BBC Sport’s David Ornstein wrote that Arsenal and Koscielny were having talks with the player regarding his future late last season. Ornstein stated that at that time, talks were positive. It wasn’t until he returned from his summer break that he informed the club of his wished.
Koscielny wants to be released from his contract a season early so he could leave on a free and pave the road for a team to sign him. For obvious reasons, it is not something that Arsenal would like to do.
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Being thin at the back as it is, Arsenal cannot afford to lose him but they also cannot have a player on their team who clearly does not want to be there. Especially if that player is also the team captain. For the most part, players have gotten their way when they have resorted to this type of tactic. The Gunners already needed to go out into the market and sign another defender. They now need to move quicker regardless of how this situation turns out.