Laurent Koscielny: “Nobody anticipated my departure from Arsenal.” | OneFootball

Speaking in an interview with Canal Football Club, 34-year-old French central defender Laurent Koscielny, now at Bordeaux, discussed his summer departure from Premier League strugglers Arsenal.

“I can understand (why Arsenal fans didn’t understand his departure). Nobody anticipated my Arsenal departure. To keep it simple, I was not as happy as I was on the first day I signed, and then with my family we needed to return home, to have a new challenge for us.”

Your family followed you for 9 years in England, was this move about making them a priority this time around?

Yes. When you are recovering from an injury, you shut yourself off. You are selfish, because our drug is to be on the pitch, run, jump, tackle, make passes. And at one point or another you start to cast a lot of people aside. Certainly, I had crossed the red line when it came to that. To be able to become happy once again together, a return to France was the best solution.