Why former Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny’s return to France hasn’t gone to plan

Such weird and wonderful events happen in the transfer window. In France, certain players are being ordered to leave before they have even found a club for which to sign.

Last week the Bordeaux president and owner Gerard Lopez phoned the agent of club captain Laurent Koscielny and told him his client was no longer wanted. The 36-year-old former Arsenal skipper has not, it is understood, provided the standards of performances on the pitch or leadership off it the club expected of him. Bordeaux want him out before the end of the month.

Koscielny played 51 times for France. He is Bordeaux’s highest-profile player. The story caused a stir.

Two days on, the former Gunners defender had his say. ‘They gave me no reason for their decision,’ he told French sports daily L’Equipe. ‘They just said it was their new strategy.

‘It’s a slap in the face. But I’m a fighter and I’ll continue to fight. In training, I’m still giving my all.’

In such impasses, PR machines whir into action. To intimations that have somehow made their way into the press that he enjoys a tipple with friends and family on his days off, Koscielny drily replied: ‘Of course I like wine. I live in a wine region.’

Bordeaux are 19th in Ligue 1. Only St Etienne sit below them in the standings. Koscielny has admitted he could have played better this season.

If form was the only metric that mattered, however, the entire squad would be up for sale. So what’s the real reason behind Bordeaux banishing him?

Money, of course. Koscielny signed for Bordeaux from Arsenal in 2019, when the club was under different ownership. Then Covid-induced income losses and the collapse of a TV deal hit French football.

When the owners for whom Koscielny signed pulled out last summer, the club nearly