There were a lot of claims flying around over the weekend surrounding the future of Laurent Koscielny and where the Arsenal defender could end up, but about half of them were wrong.
While some claimed the wantaway centre-back had reached an agreement with Bordeaux, others believed it was Rennes, while a few suggested he was happy with both sides and could join either one if they convinced the Gunners to let him go.
However, Rennes’ president, Olivier Létang, decided to clear the air on Monday regarding Koscielny’s situation, and pulled his club out of the race to sign the veteran altogether.
He said, relayed by Foot Mercato: “We learned about [the so-called agreement] like you. Even my son told me it seems Koscielny is on his way. I told him that was false. He’s a good player with a lot of experience at international level. We met him twice last year. When we heard there was a chance he could leave in early June, we called Arsenal to ask if that was true because we could be interested.
“Around mid-June, they got back to us and told us they wanted to renew him. He wasn’t for sale. We haven’t had any more talks with the player. We have great respect for other clubs. We can’t talk with a player if the team don’t want him to leave, so I can say what came out this weekend is false and isn’t current. No, we haven’t spoken to Arsenal since mid-June. For me, there’s no point talking with the player if the door isn’t open.”
So, that should put an end to that one, as it seems rather clear Rennes have no intention of either trying to convince Arsenal with money to let Koscielny go or holding any further talks with the player.
That leaves Bordeaux with that particular task if that is their wish, but considering the Gunners appear unwilling to back down on their stance, we could be at a standstill here.
After all, the club won’t want to look weak and bow down to Koscielny’s demands after his refusal to take part in pre-season.
