Laurent Koscielny, a key member of the Arsenal’s defence has revealed that he apparently rejected several offers from other clubs in the past and could finish his career at the Emirates.
30-year-old Koscielny, on Sunday, helped the Gunners to clinch the top of the Premier League, ahead of surprise package Leicester City on goal difference, following their hard-fought goalless stalemate At Stoke City.
The French defender remains a key member of a rigid defence which has conceded only 21 goals in 22 league fixtures this term.
Koscielny’s consistent club performances have also placed him well to start for the national team at Euro 2016 alongside Real Madrid’s in-from Raphael Varane.
Enjoying his sixth season in London, the ex-Lorient defender has not spent much time to decide on leaving a team that has brought him huge success at both the club and international level.
“For the moment, I have no reason to go and look elsewhere,” he said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, “I have everything I need to blossom.
“There were teams interested in me but I always asked myself if it was worth taking the risk. I’ve seen a good few players leave for a bigger club and find themselves on the substitutes’ bench.
“At the start of my career, I was often on the bench. I hated it. I said to myself, never again.”
With 16 matches remaining this season, Koscielny thinks Arsenal are well placed to win the Premier League because of the confidence they have achieved from lifting the FA Cup two years in a row. Having been a key member of the team which eventually defeated Hull City and Aston Villa in the previous two FA Cup finals, the Frenchman is hopeful that Wenger’s current squad can claim the Premier League trophy for the first time since 2004.
“The title can’t be taken for granted but I prefer to be in this position than to be chasing after the others,” he clarified.
Koscielny also said the Premier League is now “more and more homogenous” and the TV money has boosted the “average teams” to bring in “very good players who would have signed for the big five until now.”
“But after 10 years without a trophy, the cup wins have done us good,” he went on saying. “We had to pass that milestone.
“For the past three years, we’ve kept our spine. We know each other better so that allows us to win matches that we would have lost before.” The veteran French defender along with his teammates is confident enough to endure any challenge in their title race this season.