Bordeaux chairman Joe DaGrosa has explained why Laurent Koscielny left Arsenal in the summer, claiming it ‘transcended wage issues’.
Koscielny departed the Emirates Stadium for Bordeaux after nine years at the club, where he would eventually take the captaincy under former manager Arsene Wenger.
The French centre-back refused to travel on Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the United States as he looked to force a move through back home.
And DaGrosa has explained the 34-year-old was desperate to return back to his native country and it had nothing to do with wages.
“It really starts with Laurent’s desire to come back to France,” DaGrosa said. “We were not the only club in France that he considered but Bordeaux was at the top of his list, but again, not the only one on the list. His desire was to return to France, and particularly to Bordeaux where he has family, in the region. I also think that this concerns this discussion on the subject of young players compared to more experienced players.”
“Laurent Koscielny rightly thinks of his conversion and I think that Bordeaux presents a great place for him to stay in the world of football in the decades to come.”
He went on to add: “These are things we told him about, and I think that was reasoned in him, and it transcended wage issues. Where does he want to go with his family at the end of his career?
“So we convinced him and insisted that he came to a family, that he would feel at home, that he did not just come to a club.”
Koscielny has started three times for the Ligue 1 side this season in what has been a slow start for the club.
