Unai Emery Provides Return Date For Skipper Laurent Koscielny

Unai Emery finally reveals when we’ll see Laurent Koscielny back on the pitch…

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery revealed that we can expect to see Laurent Koscielny back on the pitch after the upcoming international break, the boss told reports ahead of our Europa League clash against Sporting Lisbon (via Hayters TV).

Koscielny has been out since rupturing his achilles in May against Atletico Madrid and after undergoing surgery, he was always set for an extended period on the sidelines.

However, he returned to full training ahead of schedule last month, with the skipper appearing in all the videos and training images released by the club.

Having said that, the medical team have stressed that he was being eased into the team, and the 33-year-old has been building his fitness for almost four weeks.

Now, Emery feels Koscielny is ready for some minutes once we return from this month’s international break.

“The most important is how he’s feeling every day,” Emery said.

“He can feel better in each training with us and for him. With calmness, he’s nearer, closer to being with us in the competitive games.

“At the moment, we are happy with him. He is feeling well and after [some] months without every training with the team, I think the most important thing is he is every day with us and getting better every day.

“We are going to think after the international break how we can continue working and how he can start playing games.”

Despite his age, Koscielny is still the best centre-back at the club and is desperately needed within the ranks – hopefully, he returns as the defender we’ve grown to rely upon.