Koscielny jumps at the chance to join Gunners
The 24-year-old defender sealed a move to the north London club on a four-year contract from French side Lorient for a undisclosed fee yesterday.
Arsene Wenger had tracked Koscielny, who is eligible to play international football for France and Poland, for some time as he impressed in Ligue 1.
The Gunners boss has been in need of cover at the back, with Sol Campbell mulling over a new one-year deal and fellow veterans William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre set to leave after the end of their contracts.
And Koscielny, who will wear the number six shirt, jumped at the chance to link up with his fellow countryman and the chance to bolster a defence which conceded 41 league goals last term.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision to make. It is exceptional to have a club like Arsenal wanting to sign you,” Koscielny said.
“Arsenal is a reference for football and we all know the quality of their game. The decision was quickly taken – I took the decision the day after hearing about their interest in me.
“I know the club have the means and the ambition to get that Premier League title and to go as far as possible in the Champions League.”
Wenger said of his new signing: “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.”
Meanwhile, Everton have lost out on up to £4m (€4.8m) for England U21 star Dan Gosling after an administrative error allowed the midfielder to walk away for nothing.
Gosling has stunned Everton by walking out of the Merseyside club as a free agent despite a £15,000 (€18,000) a week contract offer. An administrative error saw them fail to make Gosling an official written offer, meaning that they will miss out on a tribunal fee should he move to a rival Premier League club.
The 20-year-old, signed from Plymouth Argyle in 2008, rejected the two-year deal and the Premier League has ruled that he is free to leave the club for nothing after the error.
Toffees chairman Bill Kenwright made a verbal offer to Gosling without putting anything in writing, and the highly-rated midfielder indicated that he was likely to sign.
But, after newly-promoted Newcastle United reportedly expressed an interest in his services, Gosling has opted to leave Goodison Park as a free agent, despite facing the first four months on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Everton will lose out on up to £4m (€4.8m) likely compensation because of the failure to formally offer Gosling a new deal.
Officials at the club, who finished eighth last season, insist they had made a gentleman’s agreement with Gosling, as had been the case in the past with Wayne Rooney and Jack Rodwell – but a Premier League investigation ruled in his favour.
Gosling, who can also play in defence, is thought to have deliberately stalled contract talks because he wants first team football in his preferred central midfield position.
Meanwhile Ipswich manager Roy Keane has revealed that he is trying to sort out a deal for Gary Ablett to join his backroom team.
Ablett recently declared that he was looking to get back into football after leaving his role as Stockport manager in June.
He could now be set to become a member of Keane’s coaching staff after sitting in the dugout on Tuesday as Ipswich began their pre-season preparations with a 9-1 victory over Newmarket.
“We’ve had Charlie McParland (Ian McParland) here for a few months but he’s not been able to commit for family reasons so Gary is here for a few days,” Keane said.
“We are hoping for Gary to come on board and we are trying to sort out a deal for him to come along and work alongside myself and Tony (Loughlin) with the first team.”
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