Koscielny Isn't For Sale, Madrid - But Should He Be?

Real Madrid are showing an interest in Laurent Koscielny as they are concerned about the long term future of Sergio Ramos who is a target for Manchester United.

Selling a player of Koscielny's ability to Real Madrid is utter lunacy, especially when you factor in how much it would weaken you in terms relative to the strength of your opponents and how it could facilitate monumental strengthening of a rival by freeing up their top defensive target.

Is it lunacy though?

Arsenal don't need the £21m it is rumoured Real are willing to pay for our French international centre-back but it's a hellva lot of money for a player who will be 30 years old before we've even played 6 games of the new season.

Koscielny has been vital to the success of Arsenal and I don't think anyone wants to see him leave the club but if we can benefit from it in the short and long term then shouldn't we at least consider the option?

Defenders like Koscielny don't grow on trees and it is hard to think of a player in Europe who could replace him but let us not forget that he was a complete unknown when we bought him so there could be 10 Koscielny's out there waiting for Wenger to cultivate their talent.

Laurent has certainly improved at Arsenal and his development in the past few seasons into a great all-round defender has benefited the Arsenal back-line however his greatest asset will soon start to degrade - if it hasn't already. Pace is Koscielny's greatest weapon and the reason he makes such a great partner for Mertesacker who is the prototypical "thinking" defender.

When Koscielny starts to lose his pace, like Kolo Toure and Sol Campbell before him, he will be less valuable to Arsenal than he has been. Sol Campbell, however, read the game far better than Koscielny does and that extended his career somewhat. All the best defenders who play at the top level into their 30s do so because they have great tactical and positional awareness - it's why so many managers are ex-defenders.

Mertesacker never had pace so losing a little more will make little difference as long as his partner is able and willing to do the footwork. That's where Gabriel comes in. Many believe he was going to displace Mertesacker but that has not been the case with the German starting almost every game - bar one - he has been fit since the Brazilian joined from Villarreal. Is it possible he is in fact the replacement for Koscielny?

Koscielny has suffered with Achilles and groin injuries for the past year - possibly longer - and if that hasn't affected his pace and mobility already it soon will do. It could take a year, it could take two, but it will happen and he'll be a lesser player for it.

Gabriel is five years younger, just as fast, looks tactically similar and is a natural left-footer. That last one may seem a tad irrelevant but Wenger has always preferred a defensive partnership of a left footer and a right footer - or at least is quoted as such.

Arsenal's recent defensive success has been built on the partnership of Mertesacker and Koscielny - and the complementary attributes they bring to the plate - and on the face of it a partnership of Mertesacker and Gabriel (longer term Chambers and Gabriel) is barely different whereas a partnership of Gabriel and Koscielny is a huge change.

An offer of £21m for a player with two dodgy Achilles who is close to turning 30 is actually quite good. That could easily buy a replacement - I don't know who but I'm sure we've been scouting replacements for a while.

Ideally we would keep the players we have and worry about replacing them another time. That would mean Arsenal miss out on what is probably going to be the best price we'll ever get for Koscielny but as I said earlier, we don't need the money.

Arsenal no longer need to make decisions based purely on finance, we can squeeze every last drop of brilliance out of a player instead of selling them with something left in the tank to maximise our return.

If Arsenal did sell Koscielny I don't think it would be a tradegy and we could easily adapt with a new signing but we should focus on completing this squad before we start replacing ageing elements. We made the mistake in the past of changing out a winning team too quickly and we shouldn't do it again.

Thanks for the offer Real Madrid, but no thanks.

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