Former Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny retires
Former Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny has confirmed he will retire from football after leaving Bordeaux in January.
Kosicelny who played 353 times for The Gunners – finally has time for his career after spending the past two months as a free agent, but his stint with the Ligue 1 club ended on a sour note after being previously dropped from the team faced with the claims of fans.
Ultras group UB87 from Bordeaux has accused Koscielny and team-mate Benoit Costil of a lack of leadership and of ‘outrageous, sometimes racist’ behaviour. Koscielny says he is “surprised, shocked and saddened” by the allegations.
A statement read: “Following the article published in the newspaper Sud Ouest on March 22, 2022 entitled “Girondins de Bordeaux. Costil and Koscielny, accusations of racism that shake”, Laurent Koscielny was surprised, shocked but also saddened by the comments of one of the representatives of the Ultramarines 87 Group against him, which the press is now repeating.
“Without any ambiguity he strongly disputes these accusations which have been serious” [damage] him and affecting his family and those around him.
In this regard, Laurent Koscielny underlines that the investigative work of the newspaper Sud Ouest, which has approached more than thirty people (according to the statements of the journalist) who have formally denied the alleged racist behavior of Laurent Koscielny.
As a reminder, if Laurent Koscielny has not been part of the club’s professional staff since the end of January 2022, he remembers that he is still an associate of the Girondins de Bordeaux.
“At this point, Laurent Koscielny intends to specify that he has decided his [boots] while he would have preferred to help the club on the [pitch]† Aware that the club was in trouble, he accepted the proposal to create a new one [role] and to release [his] salary [as] evidence of his concern for the club’s interests.
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As such, he would like to thank the club for the sign of confidence shown in him by entrusting him with this position. This mission is the extension of a career that commands the respect of all his partners, coaches and staff with whom he has worked, both in the club and in the French team.
Laurent Koscielny also shares the club’s stance, recalling in its press release that “no document in support of these allegations has been brought to the attention of the Club, which in principle wishes to exercise the utmost caution.”