Arsenal: Selling Laurent Koscielny can be done right

Laurent Koscielny is reportedly tempted to leave Arsenal this summer with a new contract not especially forthcoming. While selling would not be ideal, there can be a way in which it is beneficial to the club.

A part of building the post-Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal is the selling of the Arsene Wenger players. While it is fashionable to focus on the flashy new toys, oftentimes it is the smart selling of the old ones that instigates a well-managed rebuild. Think Philippe Coutinho and Liverpool as a prime example.

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And sometimes, this means that certain will have to be sold even when there is a hesitation to do so. No one is completely sure that selling a player is the right decision, and sometimes you must allow a player to leave that at least a part of you still believes could be a useful piece of the squad.

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At Arsenal currently, there are plenty of easy-sale candidates, players that few would have a problem with selling: Mohamed Elneny, Shkodran Mustafi, Carl Jenkinson, just to name a few. But then there are those that could be sold, and it could be beneficial to sell, or could be kept, and it could be beneficial to keep, and these players come on a sliding scale of confidence. Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nacho Monreal are some that fall into this category.

Another is Laurent Koscielny. The captain has had one of the most outstanding seasons of his career. He may not have played at the same level as his pomp three or four years ago, but to overcome the Achilles’ injury, a breaking body, an ever-increasing age, and the disappointment of missing out on a World Cup victory is a thoroughly remarkable achievement. By the end of the season, he was Arsenal’s best central defender.

This week, however, reports have surfaced that Koscielny may be tempted by pastures new. With a year left on his contract and the club stalling negotiations regarding a new one, Koscielny is said to considering challenges away from the Emirates. If that is true and Arsenal were forced into selling, it would be far from ideal.

Nevertheless, that does not mean that selling Koscielny cannot be a benefit to the team. Should a decent fee be received in a transfer and a younger replacement, either an external or internal one be found, the squad could lose little at the centre-half position and have an extra £15-20 million plus wages to invest at other positions.

Selling the best player at a position of need is rarely a smart move, and in this instance, I do not think that it would be either. But that does not mean that selling Koscielny cannot be done successfully and in a manner that progresses the team. It can, if the right price is negotiated for and the right replacements are found. This is a 33-year-old centre-half we are talking about here.

Koscielny may be the club captain, he may be revered and respected in the dressing room like few others, he may have proven himself to still be the best defender at the club. But selling him can be beneficial, it just has to be done right.