The player was all set to follow Arsene Wenger out of Gunners
Laurent Koscielny joined Arsenal from Lorient for a reported sum of £8.45 million in 2010. He has been a mainstay in the defense since then and has made over 320 appearances for the club, scoring 24 goals in all competitions.
The France International featured 25 times in the Premier League for the Gunners last season before injuring his Achilles tendon against Atletico Madrid in the Europa League back in May. He was ruled out for 6 months and is expected to return around December.
The defender who has featured for France in all major tournaments since making his debut back in 2011, was also ruled out for this year’s World Cup as his nation lifted the trophy after 20 years. But he announced his retirement from the International football.
The 32 year old recently returned to training and is making very good progress towards a return, according new manager Unai Emery. The Spaniard even named him as the club’s captain despite being out injured.
The centre-back was linked with an exit during the summer but he insisted that he will honour his contract with the club, which will expire during the summer of 2020.
However, Koscielny’s representative Spephane Courbis confirms his client was considering leaving this summer and was set to follow former manager Arsene Wenger out of the club.
“At that time, Laurent was playing what might have been his final matches with Arsenal,” Courbis told France Football per ESPN . “Laurent started to consider a possible move away from Arsenal at the same time as Arsene.
“The moment was right, leaving as [a] new coach arrived. I had already anticipated this and two or three offers were making us think hard.
“We were open to a number of options. China was one, as much as a return to France,” he added. “Laurent could not see himself playing for another English team outside of Arsenal.
“Since Marseille’s approach last season, the idea of a Ligue 1 return got him thinking — it was a real possibility.”
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