Francis Coquelin Holds No Ill Will Towards Arsenal

Francis Coquelin will be returning to the Emirates for the first time after his move to Valencia and the Frenchman has no regrets with his former club.

He was sold off to the La Liga outfit for £12.6m in January 2018 which came as a huge shock to the Gunners faithful. At the time, he was the only defensive midfielder other than Mohamed Elneny (not if you consider Granit Xhaka a DM) and Arsenal needed his help to push for a top-four spot.

Instead, Arsene Wenger chose to spend heavy on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s signing and wished Coquelin the best for the future.

The latter told L’Equipe (via GFFN), “I am at an important stage in my career. I had little game time with Arsenal. And I wanted to see and experience something else. I chose a club with a strong history, and that is welcoming. And right away, I felt great here.

“Yes, I was playing matches, but not necessarily the most important ones… I still need to grow.”

When asked if he had any unfinished business with the North London outfit, the 27-year-old replied, “Honestly no. In 2014, when I was coming to the end of my contract, I would have if I had left.

“Things started to click at the point in time, and we won many games. We won a cup, finished in the top four on multiple occasions. I can’t be disappointed about that.”