Earlier on Thursday, we covered claims that Rennes were ‘hottest’ on the trail for wantaway Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny, despite interest from Bordeaux.
The Gunners announced on their website their disappointment in the former France international after he refused to take part in the club’s pre-season tour, leading the press across the Channel to make a few phone calls.
However, while Yahoo! Sport believed Rennes were close to an agreement, L’Equipe believe Koscielny would actually prefer a move to Bordeaux.
Swapping London for France’s southwest would allow him to be closer to Tulle, the town in which he was born, and they claim the Ligue 1 side were expecting this decision on the centre-back’s part regarding his refusal to head to the United States with Arsenal.
In fact, someone close to the deal told them: “I think he wants to come. On our end, at least, the job has been done for a long time. It’s on Arsenal’s side that things are blocked”.
Bordeaux’s new manager Paulo Sousa was reported to have made Koscielny a ‘priority’ this summer, wanting to use his experience and leadership to guide the club to help the club return to its once prominent role in the league.
The issue will be Arsenal’s demands, as it’s made clear the Ligue 1 club will not be paying the €10m reportedly requested by the Gunners.
While they are prepared to pay a fee to secure the defender’s services, they don’t want to go that high.
That leaves the door open for Rennes, and perhaps even Lyon, who are said to be looking at Koscielny should they end up selling their Brazilian centre-back Marcelo.
