5 players Unai Emery should exile from Arsenal

#2 Laurent Koscielny

The Gunners can do without their captain now

While's Wenger's talent for picking unknown or cheap players and polishing them into superstars waned in his last few years at Arsenal, Koscielny was one of the more successful buys.

The French international was brought in from Lorient for £8m in 2010 and while he took a while to settle and make his mark, he has emerged as the team's best centre-back in almost a decade.

The Frenchman's toughness, tackling, and leadership has been a staple at Arsenal for 8 straight seasons. However, he is beginning to wane and this is showing in his play.

It’s true that defenders Shkodran Mustafi, Hector Bellerin, Cech among others have nightmarish campaigns in the 2017/2018 season. It is also true that Koscielny contributed to this uncertainty as well, a state of affairs that saw Arsenal concede a whopping 51 goals in the league last term.

He has slowed down in recent years and has begun to lose out in physical battles against opposing strikers. Never the fastest centre-back, his decision making has also begun to look suspect. This left his partners in defence looking more suspect than usual last season.

With Rob Holding and Calum Chambers getting new contracts and the arrival of another experienced centre-back in Sokratis Papastathopoulos, the Gunners do not need their captain as critically as they used to