Laurent Koscielny knows which club he wants to join after Arsenal snub
Laurent Koscielny favours a move to Bordeaux after refusing to go on Arsenal’s pre-season tour, say reports.
The Gunners announced on Thursday that their captain had “refused to travel to the US for our pre-season tour” as he seeks a speedy exit.
According to L’Equipe, the news has not gone unnoticed in France, where Bordeaux and Rennes are both showing interest in signing the 33-year-old.
The outlet believes that Bordeaux is the centre-back’s preferred destination as it is closer to his hometown of Tulle.
A source at the Ligue 1 club told the newspaper: “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.”
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Les Girondins’ interest in the Frenchman is understood to go back to April, when the first contact was made between the player and Bordeaux officials.
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The club’s manager Paulo Sousa is said to be keen on signing the player because of the leadership and experience he offers.
However, Arsenal’s demands of €10 million are too steep for the French side, who are prepared to offer a lower fee for a player in the last year of his contract.
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
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