Arsenal Prepare £90k Contract Offer To Warn Off Man Utd Interest

As we approach the business end of the season clubs are starting to make plans for the summer transfer market so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Arsenal are desperate to tie down Laurent Koscielny.

Arsenal are desperate to tie Laurent Koscielny down to a new contract and are ready to offer him £90k-a-week after Manchester United joined the likes of Bayern Munich, PSG and Monaco in showing an interest in the defender, according to the Telegraph.

Koscielny moved to Arsenal from French side Lorient in 2010 and has been one of the clubs most most consistent performers over the past two seasons, developing a reputations as one of the best centre-back’s in the Premier League.

The French international has forged an excellent partnership at the back alongside Per Mertesacker but it seems his impressive form hasn’t gone unnoticed both here and abroad, with a whole host of clubs understood to be keeping an eye on his situation.

Koscielny has three years left on his contract at the Emirates but is currently on a relatively modest wage of £50,000-a-week, which is far less than Mertesacker – who signed a new £90,000 deal last month – while Thomas Vermaelen is on £70,000-a-week.

It appears Arsenal are now keen to address the 28-year-old’s contract situation with the Telegraph claiming they are ready to offer him a new deal worth £90,000-a-week and are confident they can tie him down to a new contract in the near future.

However, the North Londoners have a fight on their hands as the newspaper suggests that rivals Manchester United have joined Bayern Munich, PSG and Monaco in showing an interest in Koscielny, with all four clubs understood to be willing to offer the defender better deals than Arsenal.

Koscielny cast doubts over his future at the Emirates earlier in the season when he said he’d be forced to leave the club if he wasn’t regularly winning trophies and isn’t content with simply battling for fourth place every year.

“I want to lift trophies and to have a winning record. I hope the club will give me the means. If this weren’t the case, I’d look elsewhere. I want to win titles and I hope the club have the means.

“I feel good at Arsenal and if the club can compete with the best, I have no reason to leave. But if it fights every year for Champions League qualification it’s hard psychologically to be under such constant pressure.” Koscielny is quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

Arsenal looked like they were finally ready to challenge for the Premier League title this year and led the way for much of the season, but a disastrous recent run has seen Arsene Wenger’s men drop to fourth and are now facing a fight with Everton to qualify for the Champions League next season.

Failure to finish in the top four or lift the FA Cup could see Koscielny seek a move away in the summer and it looks like he wouldn’t be short of offers, but the Telegraph claim it would take offers in excess of £20m for Arsenal to even consider cashing in.

Skipper Thomas Vermaelen is expected to leave this summer after losing his place in the first team so it would be a huge blow to Arsenal if they were to lose Koscielny as well, and would leave Wenger needing to buy at least two experienced centre-backs.

However, with the Gunners odds-on to lift the FA Cup and are now in the driving seat to finish four following Everton’s 3-2 loss to Crystal Palace last night, I don’t think we’ll see Koscielny going anywhere just yet.

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