Laurent Koscielny Completes Move to Arsenal

24 year old French defender Laurent Koscielny has sealed a switch from Lorient to Arsenal on an undisclosed fee. The centre back has agreed a ‘long term deal’, but there has been no news on how long his contract is.

Koscielny has been brought in to try and shore up Arsenal’s defence and is seen as an ideal replacement for William Gallas and Sol Campbell, after the defenders were not offered new deals by the North London club. Wenger told the Arsenal club website, “We identified him as a strong centre half, who has made big progress very quickly. He has shown he is mentally strong, he is a fighter and a very strong competitor”.

Although French born, uncapped Koscielny qualifies to play for Poland or France, depending on which way he chooses. Koscielny will wear the number 6 shirt and is expected to make his first appearance in the Emirates Cup on the weekend beginning 31st July, where the Gunners compete with Celtic, AC Milan and Lyon for the trophy.

Koscielny is relatively unknown, but looks like a good player. He helped guide Lorient to a seven placed finish in Ligue 1 last season and looked defensively solid in a team that recorded their highest ever finish in the top league in France. Koscielny is strong and has already boldly claimed that he will help solve Arsenal’s defensive problems. If he settles in quickly, I think there’s no reason why him and Thomas Vermaelen should be a good partnership and would shore up Arsenal to help them push for league glory. If captain Cesc Fabregas stays and new striker Marouane Chamakh settles in well and scores regularly, I don’t see no reason why Arsenal can’t push for the title.