Bordeaux have confirmed the arrival of centre-back Laurent Koscielny from Arsenal, ending the defender’s nine-year stay in London.
The 33-year-old arrived from Lorient in 2010 and quickly established himself as a key player in the Gunners backline.
However, Koscielny refused to travel with the Arsenal squad on their pre-season tour to America as he’d hoped to secure a return to France.
A move to Rennes had been mooted, but it’s Bordeaux who have won the race to secure Koscielny’s services.
The experienced centre-back has endured his fair share of injury woes in recent years, notably sustaining an Achilles injury in Arsenal’s Europa League semi-final defeat to Atletico Madrid in 2018, which forced him to miss the 2018 World Cup.
Koscielny was made Arsenal captain last summer following Per Mertesacker’s retirement, but his reign as skipper lasted just 12 months.
Arsenal actually performed better without Koscielny in the starting XI, with the Gunners’ Premier League win ratio increasing from 46.2% to 60% when he started last season.
Disappointingly, Koscielny’s final appearance for the Gunners was their 4-1 Europa League final defeat at the hands of Chelsea.
