Koscielny was a fine player. At this moment in time, the best you can say is there’s not much difference between them. If I had to choose between one or the other playing an important game, I would see it as a very difficult choice because as Rich said recently, Mustafi does have some good games. We all want to show respect for Koscielny, as I said I understand that. But he’s now just as much a liability, and perhaps even more so.

There is no way that CP will take three surplus players from us plus cash in exchange for Zaha. Not going to happen. Apart from the fact that a deal/ contract for three players would be so complex to arrange who would want three cast offs?

Well according to the official website Kosielny has refused to travel to the USA. In other words he is on strike and probably trying to force a move he wants. Once was captain. The club is an embarrassment and turning us into a laughing stock.

Should be sacked immediately.

Absolute *%^@ show of a club. WTF has caused this to happen? Clearly the good ship Arsenal is not a happy craft. This cannot be allowed to happen. Fine him and put him on the transfer list. No one is bigger than the club

If he wants a free transfer, give it to him. These days he’s rubbish anyway. Just don’t pay up the final year of his contract.

Thanks Bernard ..... would mean so much for the country sort of like Leicester winning the league .
Probably because of being a miniscule liitle joint we tend to take an interest in any sport we are contesting in a final .

You blokes are off to a decent start same score as NZ v India 15 for 3 .

Archer 's just given Carey a decent rap on the chin .... shades of Harold Larwood

Makes sense. If he is on £5-£6m a year we'd be saving that money, and that's probably the transfer fee we would get for him anyway. Get him out the door. Stating the bleeding obvious but we need to get a couple of central defenders in the door ASAP. Saliba may be a great long term deal but he can't help us this season.

Why ?

How can a player with 1 year on his contract just assume the club will let him leave on a free transfer so he can packet a huge amount of wages elsewhere ? He’s basically agreed a wage offer on the basis he was being given away and now is upset. How is that the club’s fault. When Petr Čech left Chelsea aged 33 they didn’t give him a free he cost 7 million

Why shouldn’t arsenal ask for a couple of million at least for a veteran French international.

*%^@*** footballers eh, I’ve seen it all now.

*%^@ Kosielny, not fit to lace the boots of Andy linighan

It’s just daft now

It’s like the football clubs only exist to make the players and their agents money. The pogba situation is just ridiculous too

We must send a strong message to the whole team over this problem. If we fine him it must be a substantial amount - not a weeks wage - 2 million pounds and leave him to crawl under the nearest rock. Then sack him if possible. Start legal action for damaging the club. If we wants to leave he can buy out the rest of his contract. I am more than a bit annoyed that the club will now start the season in crisis mode. The story will no longer be who we buy ????? - but how the club is imploding.

This really must be a serious problem if the official site has put out a statement.

Also the “statement” is pathetic

Should state that he’s stripped of club captaincy with immediate effect and the club don’t consider appropriate behaviour from its playing staff and the clubs values

Arsenal are such easy pickings. From other clubs, agents and even our own players

Until the club gets run properly we’ll be savaged

Kos needs to be stripped of the captaincy immediately.

The problem now is if we can’t sell him, and his actions make getting any fee for him more difficult do we
Make him sit in the reserves for a year never considering him for the first team and he can leave on a free next year
Cancel his contract as he wants to save ourselves £5-6m in wages

That Kos is past it - and now all but gone - makes no difference to how we see Mustafi. Better than an injury ruined veteran is not a glowing reference. You’re making the comparison, and I can see why, but no one else is or needs to to say Mustafi hasn’t been and isn’t good enough to even be a rotation player for us. Unless something changes drastically with him, like staying on his feet for a start.

Tells you all you need to know about our ambition (lack of), that we even considered keeping Kos, let alone Mustafi.

Feel sorry for anyone who is wasting their time/money on the 'London Nuggets'.

Funny to see Arsenal try to get to Palace’s valuation of £80m for Zaha by offering £40m plus Chambers, Jenkinson and Elneny.
When you see prices for some players then those 4 could be worth £40m but the key will be their wages and the fact that there seems to be little interest in them.

The playing staff needs such a huge overhaul but yet we simply can’t shift any dud off our books without basically letting them go for free. I thought it would take 2-3 windows to properly overhaul the squad but it is looking like it will take 5-6 transfer windows with the success rate so far, and that will probably mean these players running down deals……again.

Arsenal made a rule for players with 2 years left on their deal to either offer a new deal or sell them, the only exception being players of a certain age nearing retirement. All sounds very sensible. Players with contracts up in 2 years are: Aubamayang, Özil, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan, Sokratis

Would you sell Aubamayang for £75m if it guaranteed we picked up £60m for Özil, Mustafi and Mkhitaryan and shifted them off the books?

I will take Kos' disrespect and tired 34 year old legs over Mustafi.

That's how low I rate Mustafi.

Pretty unsettling, isn't it? Oh well, that is the way Arsenal will be for a while now

Captain? Was he ever one?

Well I certainly didn’t see that Kos situation coming. Nothing that happens at our club inspires any confidence now.

Please don’t take what I’m saying as meaning I rate Mustafi highly. I don’t at all. All I’m saying is that at this point in Koscielny’s career, I would rather have Mustafi in the team than him. Koscielny is now even worse than him. He conclusively showed that towards the end of last season.

This seems very out of character for Kos. I reckon assurances or promises were made as to allowing him to leave in the summer which have been reneged on. Not that we should allow a player under contract to just walk out. I would still take him over Mustafi any day of the week Mustafi is supposedly at his peak and is dreadful. However I don’t think this changes things that much. We needed a CB and we still need a CB as most of us had assumed one of our CBs would be leaving.

Probably not, seeing that it’s very doubtful Stan would let us spend the money on new players.

Hi Darren.

I agree, very odd. Kos has always seemed a model professional.

Something must have gone on for him to behave this way.

No Amaechi on the tour. The player was already considering his future and has admirers elsewhere, great talent and more talented than some on the tour. Could risk losing him now

Why is Xavier Amaechi not on the US trip?

I thought he was one of our best prospects.

Edit. Sorry Rich, didn't see your post.

Got to love the way everyone seem to default to blaming the club for everything;
If we had just allowed Kos to leave for nothing, the same people who are blaming the club for not allowing it would be saying "we are always too soft, club A got £XM for player Y".
And just because Xavier isn't on the tour, he has suddenly become our best prospect......

None of these has anything to do with our real problem at the club.......our owner.

That's a little unfair Hodd, isn't Amaechi widely regarded as one of our best prospects? No one said the best.. And wasn't he linked with the likes of Bayern recently?

I think people are more concerned about the underlying reason for Kos's refusal to travel than the monetary aspect. It seems most unlike him.

Complaining about our owner is akin to complaining about the fog and rain in London. We are stuck with it. There are only two things that I can see with the ownership changing: 1. There is a complete supporter boycott on all fronts and 2. His financial situations becomes so bad he has to sell.

Thank you Dein.

Oh please

It’s money, he’s had a huge 3 year contract offered on the assumption he was going on a free that assumption was incorrect.

He’s paid a life changing amount of money every week to simply play football and now he doesn’t want any to because he’s had a slightly better offer

Laurent Kosielny is a multi millionaire because of arsenal football club, period

Anybody watching the cricket? Comprehensive arse kicking being handed out by England

If anybody offers £10m send him on his way, otherwise let him do his garden for a year.

Exactly.

It was Fiszman who made him the majority shareholder.

Your completely off your pickle aren’t you.

Totally schizophrenic. Reference tea and bowler hat too btw maybe a beefeater or 2

Hi Gaz from Oz -

https://untold-arsenal.com/archives/76032

That's an interesting way of looking at the Kos situation.

Let's see how this plays out.

The Kos "situation" is all about money though, that's the point. He's had a financially appealing offer, but it relies on him getting released from the last year of his contract.
He's been a model professional at the club and he, his agent and the club they have been talking to are relying on the type of response we are seeing to try force the club's hand.
If Arsenal had behaved in this manner, we know what would be being posted here.....
On Xavier, he is a great talent, but "more worthy of being on the tour than some who've gone"? based on what evidence? (And I know that wasn't your comment).

There’s literally no point in the comparison. That Turkish club summed up Mustafi’s plus points by saying that he’s got two legs. The fact he can’t stay on them or coordinate them means I never want to see him turn out for us again.

I see Holding is in the USA squad, is he back from injury?