Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny refused to travel with the squad to the US and now he is expected to leave during the current transfer window.
The Gunners were obviously planning to punish their captain for his rebellion but Unai Emery had made it clear that the decision was for the club’s management to take.
“He started training with us this pre-season and I spoke with him three times for his situation,” Emery told reporters.
“We wanted him to come with us on this tour but he decided to stay.
“Now it is a matter for the club and for the player. He has one year left on his contract. For me as a coach, he’s an important player. Now it’s one matter for him and the club.
“The club and him need to speak, they are speaking about his situation. I cannot say more than that.
“I spoke with him before he came here and he decided to stay there. We spoke with a good spirit for both the team and him but this is his decision, only his decision. He’s speaking only with the club.
“Really I cannot say more about that. For me now it’s clear we need to keep moving ahead.”
Now though the latest reports are claiming that Koscielny has handed in a transfer request and Arsenal are likely to let him leave this summer.
But if the Frenchman leaves, Unai Emery could have a crisis of defenders for the upcoming season which might prevent him from playing his favoured three-man backline.
The Arsenal boss though has recently revealed that he is flexible to playing with two as well as three centre-backs for the upcoming seasons.
“We worked last year with both systems and changed it a lot because the quality of players. Sometimes we need to protect the full-backs,” he said.
“We tried last year to play with four and three. Now I want to be working with both systems because sometimes we can achieve a very big performance with Monreal and Kolasinac playing together.
“Playing a back four with Monreal at centre-back, it’s not the best position for him.
“Kolasinac I want to improve his performances in all but above all we are working to be strong in a four.”
