Laurent Koscielny to Join Arsenal Soon for a Transfer Fee of £10m

Arsenal is closing in on a deal for French center back Laurent Koscielny. Reports available in the media suggest that Koscielny could put pen on paper very soon and complete his move to the North London club. Arsenal would reportedly spend around £10m including add-ons for the center back.

The 24-year-old defender has had a successful season with French club FC Lorient last season and impressed Gunners boss Arsene Wenger who revealed his interest in the player in May.

Earlier, Arsene Wenger indicated that he would strengthen his defense in the summer transfer window. He has already been linked with a number of defenders over the last few weeks, but now it seems Koscielny fits the bill for Wenger and would play for the Gunners next season.

Wenger signed Thomas Vermaelen for €10 million (€12 million including add-ons) from Dutch club Ajax and the Belgian has surprised many with his impressive performance in his debut season in Premier League.

With Mikael Silvestre, William Gallas and Sol Campbell most likely to leave the North London club this summer, Wenger’s worry for his defense line up might have reached at the peak. Now that, Koscielny is joining Vermaelen at the heart of the Arsenal defense, Wenger’s worry for his back line seems to have gone away to some extent.

So, if Silvestre, Gallas and Campbell leave this summer, Arsenal is left with Johan Djourou, the only other specialist center back at Arsenal, other than Vermaelen. That means, Arsenal still does not have quality back up for Vermaelen and Koscielny.

Laurent Koscielny joined Lorient from Tours in 2009 for a £1.5 million transfer fee. However, his excellent form last season has raised his value in the transfer market.