Bernd Leno: Laurent Koscielny is Arsenal's perfect captain

What's the story?

Arsenal's first choice goalkeeper of the moment, Bernd Leno, believes Laurent Koscielny is the "perfect" captain for the Gunners.

Portsmouth v Arsenal U21 - Checkatrade Trophy

In case you didn't know...

The French defender has not played a competitive game for the first team since he suffered an Achilles injury during the UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg match against Atlético Madrid, and was ruled out for at least six months.

The 33-year-old made his comeback playing for the Arsenal Under 23s late last month against Derby County and completed 85 minutes of the game against Portsmouth for the Under 23 side, although he came off because he was suffering from cramps.

There were initial fears that he had suffered from a recurrence of the injury that kept him out for long, however, Arsenal issued a statement to debunk this rumour.

The heart of the matter

At the start of Unai Emery's reign, he clearly stated that he needed "five captains", but stated that Laurent Koscielny still remains the Gunners' first captain.

Other captains include Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Petr Cech and Granit Xhaka. They have also captained the side at some point this Premier League season.

He believes Koscielny relates very well with young players at the club, encouraging them and giving them the needed lift before crucial games this season.

Bernd Leno is quoted as saying on Arsenal.com:

"In training you see how he is talking to other players. 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. I think we should give him the time [to play]. The coach is calm with him because he was a long time injured."

What's next?

It remains to be seen if Laurent Koscielny will play a part in Thursday's game against Qarabag, owing to the fact that Arsenal are short on centre-backs for the weekend due to the suspension of Sokratis and Mustafi for the visit to Saint Mary's Stadium.