Bayern München’s interest in Koscielny has been mooted by several media outlets since his consistently outstanding displays, with ‘The Sun’ reporting that the Bavarians are willing to offer around £15 million (€17.7 million) to bring him to the Allianz-Arena.
An interview conducted by the French Eurosport only fuelled rumours:
“I feel good at Arsenal, I’ve just come to the end of a complicated season, especially the first six months, but it’s over now”, Koscielny stated. ”I want to lift trophies and to have a winning record. I hope the club will give me the means. If this isn’t the case, I’d look elsewhere.”
Laurent Koscielny is no stranger to the Allianz-Arena, having showcased his exceptional defensive qualities to Bayern’s hierarchy first-hand as Arsenal triumphed 2-0 on March, 13th in the UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg – and it was Koscielny’s fine header which almost contributed to Bayern’s unexpected downfall.
Koscielny would be a fantastic acquisition for Bayern München as Pep Guardiola tinkers and tweaks a treble-winning squad to his desire. Strong in the tackle, a fantastic reader of the game, more than able in the air and a calming influence from the back with the ball at his feet, the 27-year old possesses the ability and potential to adapt well to the Bundesliga as well as a Guardiola-inspired Bayern München.
Making a total of 41 interceptions and 42 tackles in 25 appearances, ‘Lolo’ has been scrutinised extensively during his Arsenal career, only to answer his widespread critics by excelling in every aspect of his defensive game during the final third of the season.
Dante, like Koscielny at Arsenal, has been a invaluable influence on Bayern München’s season, but I have my doubts as to whether he and Laurent Koscielny would be able to forge a coherent defensive partnership. Both defenders in question prefer to be the more forthcoming, aggressive centre-half alongside a more static central defender; see Koscielny’s successful partnership with Mertesacker, Dante’s with Martin Stranzl, Jérôme Boateng and, to an extent, with Daniel van Buyten.
Having two fairly similar centre-halves could be detrimental to the team as well as eachother.
In terms of the transfer’s likelihood, you can understand Bayern’s desire to strengthen their centre-back options. With Holger Badstuber likely to be missing a large chunk, if not all, of 51st Bundesliga season through injury, and veteran Daniel van Buyten on the ever-darkening side of 30, another centre-half for Bayern may not be a priority, but would be a plausible addition to the squad, alongside the pre-agree transfer of Jan Kirchhoff.
Pep Guardiola has been an admirer of Koscielny since his time at Barça. From what I can gather, Arsenal won’t entertain any offers for one of their prized possessions, with the club aiming to ‘resist any offers as he’s contracted to 2017′.
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