Bernd Leno: Laurent Koscielny Gave Impassioned Speech Before Derby

Bernd Leno happy to see our club captain close to a first-team return…

Bernd Leno is happy to have our club captain Laurent Koscielny back in the fold following his return to first-team contention and revealed that the Frenchman rallied the troops ahead of the north London derby, he told Arsenal Player.

Koscielny has been out since rupturing his achilles at Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-final last May, and Unai Emery has been cautious in terms of pencilling in his return date.

The 33-year-old has been in full training for a number of weeks and after two games for our development squads, the Spaniard stated that Koscielny will play in our Europa League clash against Qarabag on Thursday.

His return is timely too with the news that Rob Holding’s season is over after suffering a cruciate knee ligament rupture, while Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi will miss the trip to Southampton after reaching their yellow card threshold.

Koscielny’s quality and leadership are what has endeared him to us fans, and it’s great to hear that the Frenchman was intent on hammering home the importance of the derby.

“In training, you see how he is talking to other players,” Leno said.

“We have many young players and he talks to them and for me, he is a big personality in the team, in the dressing room.

“Before Tottenham, he was not in the squad but five minutes before the game he said many, many good things about the history of the game, how important it is for the fans, the club, every player, so he is the perfect captain for us.

“He is a big personality and of course he has big quality.”