Arsenal Open Contract Negotiations With Koscielny

According to the French press (L’Equipe), Arsenal are in talks with defender Laurent Koscielny about extending his contract at the Emirates Stadium until 2017. His current deal is reportedly set to expire in 2014, so it is important that this move is done this summer, so that the club avoids a similar situation with Koscielny to the one they are currently having with Robin Van Persie.

Koscielny’s defensive partner Thomas Vermaelen put pen to paper on a new long-term deal back in October, so signing Koscielny to a new deal would extend their partnership at the back for many years to come.

The Frenchman was one of the most improved players in the league last season, having had a difficult first year in English football. Koscielny’s first year was full of ups and downs.

He was sent off on his Premier League debut for two bookable offences, but showed promise in other games, particularly playing his part in Arsenal’s run to the League Cup Final that season. After impressing against Newcastle in the League Cup win in October 2010, he picked up his second red card of the season against the same opposition in the Premier League game, a game that the Gunners would go on to lose 1-0. He gave Arsenal the lead in the semi-final of the League Cup, putting the Gunners 2-0 up against Ipswich with a header that gave Arsenal the lead on aggregate. Arsenal won 3-0 (3-1 on agg) and progressed to the Final. Koscielny played a big part in the Arsenal defence not conceding a goal in the league in January 2011, so things were looking up for the Frenchman. The season high for both Koscielny and Arsenal came against Barcelona in February 2011. The Gunners defeated the mighty Barcelona 2-1 at the Emirates with Koscielny playing a massive role in the game. He was Arsenal’s rock at the back that day and Barcelona really struggled to beat him.

Having been a big reason for Arsenal getting to the League Cup Final that year, the ending was cruel for both Arsenal and Koscielny in particular. A mix-up at the back between Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny gifted Birmingham the winning goal in the dying minutes of the game. Arsenal’s trophy drought went on and the Gunners never recovered from the heartache of losing in the Final. They were in the title race before losing to Birmingham and still in the hunt for all four trophies, but after that defeat their season fell apart and they finished 4th with no trophies.

Koscielny looked a lot more convincing last year though and he was a lot more consistent. People forget that Koscielny is a late bloomer in football. He’d been on the bench in the French Ligue 2 before he won his place in the first-team at Tours at centre-back. He’d been playing at right-back mostly before he asked to switch to centre-back. After a breakthrough year in 2008-09, Koscielny got into the best XI for Ligue 2, which attracted the interest of teams in Ligue 1. Lorient snapped up Koscielny for 1.7m euros and following an impressive first year in Ligue 1, Arsene Wenger came calling.

After that tough first season, a lot of people questioned whether Koscielny was good enough, but the Frenchman has shown the consistency required to play at the top level and Arsene Wenger’s patience appears to have paid off. He was by far Arsenal’s best defender last season and if he can improve or keep up his levels of consistency for last season, then signing him to a new deal will be fantastic for the club. I hope that Koscielny gets a new deal and I hope he stays with the club for many years to come.