Arsenal: 7 former players who ruined their legacy

Laurent Koscielny shows his true colors

Laurent Koscielny could have been an Arsenal legend. Unfortunately, he ruined any chance of that with the unprofessional way he pushed through a move away from north London in the summer of 2019.

The French defender was signed by Wenger in 2010 from Lorient, becoming a fixture at the center of Arsenal’s defense paired alongside German Per Mertesacker.

In addition to his solid defending, he also contributed 27 goals during his nine years in London.

Koscielny had one year left on his contract following the 2018-2019 season and was in negotiations with Arsenal for a new deal. Instead of signing a contract extension, he surprised everyone when he announced that he wanted to quit and return to France. The club and the fans were taken aback by this announcement. It would get worse.

https://twitter.com/IanWright0/status/1158862518061817859

In July 2019, the Gunners traveled to the United States for a pre-season tour.  The club captain refused to travel with his teammates and remained in London as he tried to force through a move.

With their hands tied, the Arsenal brass allowed the Frenchman to leave, and he signed for Bordeaux in a £4.6m deal.

That alone was bad enough, but the defender made it worse with what he and his new club did next. In what could only be described at its best as tone-deaf or at its worst totally classless, Bordeaux released a video to announce the signing of Koscielny. The clip starts with the Frenchman wearing an Arsenal shirt which he precedes to take off to reveal him now wearing a Bordeaux jersey.

That cemented Koscielny’s legacy. Any goodwill that the defender had built up during his nine years at Arsenal was erased. Ian Wright summed up how most fans felt.