Jump to content

Laurent Koscielny completes move to Arsenal


TF S4DK

Recommended Posts

gun__1278518078_koscielny1.jpgArsenal Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of defender Laurent Koscielny from French Ligue 1 side Lorient on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.Twenty-four year-old Koscielny, who is predominantly a central defender, made 40 appearances in all competitions during his season with Lorient in the 2009/2010 campaign.Before joining the north-west French club Lorient in 2009, Koscielny also played for En Avant Guingamp and Tours in France, where in 2009 he was voted Best Player in Ligue 2 for the 2008/2009 season by his fellow professionals - the UNFP (National Union of Professional Footballers in France).Although born in France, uncapped Koscielny, who helped Lorient to seventh place in the French league championship last season, would also qualify to represent the Poland national team as a result of his family roots.Manager Arsène Wenger said: "Koscielny is a central defender with great ability who performed extremely well last season for Lorient. We identified him as a very strong centre half, who has made big progress very quickly. He has shown he is mentally strong, he's a fighter and a very strong competitor. Koscielny is a great addition to our squad."New Arsenal player Koscielny said: "I'm very excited to be joining Arsenal. They are one of the biggest teams in Europe with many great players. I'm really looking forward to playing in the English Premier League and the Champions League with my new club. Also, in Arsène Wenger, Arsenal has one of the best managers in the world and I can't wait to work with him and do my best for the Arsenal supporters."Koscielny, who will wear the number 6 shirt, is scheduled to make his first appearance at Emirates Stadium over the weekend of Friday 31st July and Saturday 1st August, when Arsenal compete with AC Milan, Celtic and Olympique Lyonnais for the Emirates Cup 2010. For further information, click here.gun__1278518632_koscielny03.jpggun__1278518613_koscielny01.jpggun__1278518650_koscielny05.jpg?ic=05de15Tgun__1278518669_koscielny07.jpg?ic=df8766T
  • Upvote 1
  • Downvote 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Comment: From The French Third Division To High-Flying Arsenal - The Extraordinary Rise Of Arsene Wenger's New Signing Laurent KoscielnyRags-to-riches tale of new Gunners defender...By Andy BrassellJul 7, 2010 5:25:00 PMThat Arsene Wenger has turned to a Francophone player to solve his centre-back problem is of little surprise. That he has broken the bank to land a defender who was playing his trade in the French third tier two years ago is somewhat more so. The lengths that the Arsenal boss went to to sign Laurent Koscielny is a sturdy endorsement of his potential, but also makes him arguably the biggest transfer market risk Wenger has taken since signing Jose Antonio Reyes back in January 2004. The inexorable nature of Koscielny's rise is not lost on the player himself. "Everything's moving so fast for me." he recently told French daily Aujourd'hui en France, "especially when I think back to my difficult years at Guingamp," where he played between 2004 and 2007. He made just 40 appearances in these three seasons and was forced to drop to the third tier, with Tours, in order to get some regular starts.Game time was not a problem for Koscielny during his sole season in Ligue 1. He started 35 times for Lorient, helping his side to a creditable 7th place in the table despite mainstays such as Michael Ciani and Fabrice Abriel departing the Stade du Moustoir in the previous summer. While he made the UNFP (French Players' Union) team of the season for 08/09, his top-flight debut was something else, as the huge profit made by the Brittany club testifies. Having paid Tours £1.25m for Koscielny, Lorient have made a 600% profit on a player who 11 months ago was preparing to make his Ligue 1 debut.His qualities were clear in a consistent campaign. Guided by an experienced partner in Sylvain Marchal, Koscielny showed strength in the air (something Arsenal have tended to lack in recent seasons), excellent reading of the game and remarkable maturity.Significantly, Koscielny was only booked three times during the season, a clear testament to his excellent positional sense. This is something that could get the occasionally fallible Thomas Vermaelen out of trouble in a way that William Gallas no longer had the physical capacity to do. He quickly roused the interest of bigger French clubs, with PSG, Monaco and especially Lille keen, but even if they hadn't been priced out of the market it's debatable whether Koscielny would have entertained a move within France. He quickly made it clear to the Lorient board and coach Christian Gourcuff that Arsenal was the only move he wanted after getting wind of the London side's interest.As his rapid rise last season showed, the 24-year-old is an extraordinarily driven character. Just 10 days after making his Lorient debut, he was discussing his future in international football with radio station RMC. He acknowledged applying for Polish nationality to keep his options open. "France is my country, but my roots are in Poland," he said. "I'm going to take double nationality because it doesn't tie me to anything. Afterwards, I have to reflect on what's best for my future." His confidence in considering the possibility of playing at Euro 2012 just a week and a half after his Ligue 1 debut shows the extent of his ambition.Perhaps he was mindful of the example set be his predecessor at Lorient, Michael Ciani. It's difficult to imagine he didn't have the Bordeaux defender in mind, as a simultaneous inspiration and cautionary tale. Ciani enjoyed a splendid start to life in Aquitaine under Laurent Blanc, making light of the departure of Souleymane Diawara as the champions shot back to the top of the table and blazed a glorious trail through the Champions League group stages. He even got himself on the scoresheet against Bayern Munich.By the time Ciani's form was rewarded with an international call-up, for France's prestige friendly against Spain in Paris, he had shown another characteristic of the shooting star - the nose dive. Bordeaux's form had bombed, and Ciani struggled as much as anyone in a disastrous season end that saw Blanc's men finish potless.Koscielny has had expert guidance from Gourcuff senior at Lorient, and will get more of the same in London N5. Of all his qualities, his sang froid is perhaps the one that will come in the most handy as he aims to fulfil his lofty aims. http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2010/07/07/2014491/comment-from-the-french-third-division-to-high-flying
Link to comment
Share on other sites

yea, always solid but to me, nothing leading to think he would get a big money move this quickly, let alone to this big club was getting mad positive comments from all round though so hopefully, im rather positive at this moment myself
How many Lorient matches you seen him play?What are his strengths/weaknesses etc
Link to comment
Share on other sites

yea, always solid but to me, nothing leading to think he would get a big money move this quickly, let alone to this big club was getting mad positive comments from all round though so hopefully, im rather positive at this moment myself
How many Lorient matches you seen him play?What are his strengths/weaknesses etc
probably all against the big 3 plus say an odd 5 otherfully dunno if its enough to judge or what to expect but, usually when they were caught on counters, or with defensive non existent cm's, when he came higher up, the ball always went past him. so yea, ive seen sometimes poor decisions, on occassions unaware of position, and im not sure how he's gonna handle a man like drogba. usually tight man marking but dont think anyone took advantage of it yet, so thats another positive/negative. not bad header, rather good tackler, and i recall some sick passes as he also likes to come forward.he will be good, but im not sure if he is good now if u know what i mean. and the left foot might be a problem with vermaelen also left footed init?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...