Arsenal’s attempts to bolster their central defense, an area of rapid depletion, got a boost with the imminent signing of Laurent Koscielny, of Lorient. He is 24 years and stands 6’1″. His impressive form at Tours, a Ligue 2 club carried over when he joined Lorient last year.
This World Cup has shown unequivocally without a good pair of defenders in the middle, the consequences are dire. And the Gunners have a situation in central defense.
Johan Djorou returns from an injury absence after a year and will have all kinds of niggles and match fitness issues. Vermaelen is running out of partners as William Gallas, Phillipe Senderos, and Mikael Silvestre are not expected not to return to the Emirates.
The Gunners are reported to have paid €12m for Koscielny’s services which means they expect the highly rated defender to pair up with Thomas Vermaelen. He seems to be training with the youth reserves already. The future of Sol Campbell remains a bit murky although Wenger might be keen to retain him with his leadership skills and impressive performance off the bench.
Arsene Wenger is in South Africa and will return after its over. Koscielny could be introduced formally sometime early next week.