Decision to be made on Coquelin after U20 World Cup with Lorient keen to re-sign him
The immediate future of Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin remains somewhat uncertain, with French side Lorient, with whom he spent the entirety of last season, hoping to retain his services next campaign. A concrete decision will not be made, however, until the culmination of his participation in the FIFA U20 World Cup, which takes place in Columbia and commences next month, with Coquelin’s France facing Columbia, South Korea and Mali in the group stage.
Coquelin is due to return to London Colney for pre-season training, along with the club’s other professional players, a week tomorrow, but will see his preparations for the new campaign somewhat disrupted by his international commitments, although he could still feasibly feature in the club’s two Asian tour games against a Malaysian XI and local side Hangzhou Greentown next month.
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Since signing from Laval three summers ago, Coquelin has made quite an impression in North London, helping Arsenal’s under-18s attain a Premier Academy League and FA Youth Cup double in 2008/09, whilst also impressing on many occasions for the Reserves. He has been limited to just four first-team outings, although he did start the FA Cup defeat away to Stoke City two seasons ago.
Arsene Wenger is thought to think highly of Coquelin, who has found his cause aided by the fact that fellow holding midfielder Craig Eastmond is likely to miss the beginning of pre-season due to injury, whilst Emmanuel Frimpong missed almost the entirety of the last campaign because of medial knee ligament damage.
The decision as to whether Coquelin stays to contest for a place in the first-team squad at Arsenal, or returns on loan to Lorient for another season, will ultimately rest with Wenger, who will assess his options come the end of pre-season.
