Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny is on the verge of joining Ligue 1 club Bordeaux, sources have told ESPN FC.
The French international centre-back arrived in the French city on Monday after positive talks between the two clubs in London last week. The player, 33, was optimistic that Arsenal would find a final agreement with Bordeaux to let him come back to France. The agreement was finalised late on Monday.
Koscielny will have a medical on Tuesday before signing a three-year contract. The transfer fee should be around €5 million in total. The Frenchman had fallen out with the English club during the summer for an unknown reason and refused to go on tour in the United States with the rest of the squad before the start of the season.
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Arsenal manager Unai Emery wanted to keep him at the club but Koscielny didn’t want to play for the London outfit ever again. After training with the under-23 team for a month, he finally won the battle and will be back in Ligue 1 nine years after leaving it.
Koscielny joined Arsenal from Lorient in the summer 2010 for €10m and went on to make more than 300 appearances for the Gunners and to win three FA Cups.