Former Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny left the Gunners to join Bordeaux over the summer because of his personal desire to return home to France, even taking a pay cut to find a project that suits his needs, the Ligue 1 club’s president Joseph DaGrosa has explained.
Koscielny, who joined Arsenal from Lorient in 2010 and spent nine years with the north London side, infamously refused to travel on the club’s pre-season tour. That ultimately led to an acrimonious departure and he signed with Bordeaux for €5m in early August.
The 34-year-old has played 90 minutes in each of Bordeaux’s last three games, which is game time he may not have been given had he seen out the final year of his Arsenal contract.