Arsenal: Does Francis Coquelin Have a Future with the Gunners?

Francis Coquelin created quite a stir this past summer.

The 20-year-old Frenchman strung together a slew of fine performances for his country's U-20 team during the World Cup competition in Colombia, earning widespread praise along the way.

He has built upon that base this season with Arsenal. Along with fellow starlets Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Emmanuel Frimpong (the latter now on loan with Wolverhampton), Coquelin has cemented himself as one of the club's brightest young talents.

Operating in a defensive central midfield role, Coquelin has shown an impeccable ability to pick and choose the best moments to engage in tackles and displays an inherent sense of how to effectively distribute play and maintain possession. Marshaling forces in the middle of the park simply seems to make sense to him.

His time spent on a season-long loan with Ligue 1 side FC Lorient in 2010-11 looks to have done him a world of good.

Christian Gourcuff, his coach while at the Brittany-based club, shares a similar footballing philosophy to that of compatriot Arsene Wenger. Both stress fluid passing in the attacking build-up and exhort technical proficiency amongst their players.

Thus, there was no jarring stylistic change when Coquelin returned from his loan spell at the end of the Ligue 1 season last May. By the end of his time there, he'd made 24 appearances and scored one goal. Certainly not an eyebrow-raising return, but Coquelin did have Gourcuff singing his praises.

In an interview with Official Arsenal Magazine in February of 2011 (which was referenced in an Arsenal.com article last May), Coquelin spoke of his time with Lorient, citing improvement in his overall game as what he deemed his greatest accomplishment during his loan spell.

"The more I played [with Lorient], the stronger I have become," Coquelin said in February. "I am very happy with my progress. I was aware of my abilities and I know what I wanted to achieve here: play a lot, get some experience, and improve."

Gourcuff was effusive in his praise toward his loanee. "[Coquelin] has improved a lot already in his use of the ball and in how he controls the game. When he arrived, he was making the wrong choices at times—now, he is more accurate and pertinent. He is clever and a good lad."

Arsenal fans have witnessed those qualities first-hand this season (the Frenchman's decision-making is often prescient for a 20-year-old), most notably during Coquelin's excellent displays against Shrewsbury Town (September 21st) in the Carling Cup and away to Tottenham (October 2nd) in league play. Coquelin earned Man of the Match honors for Arsenal in that match at White Hart Lane.

He was utilized as a central defensive midfielder in both those games, but crippling injuries to Arsenal's defensive core have seen him used most recently as a side-back. While certainly not his position of preference, the Frenchman has more than adequately deputized, showing impressive versatility.

Coquelin was playing right-back during Monday night's memorable FA Cup match with Leeds United. The hamstring knock he picked up in the first half was unfortunate—he pulled up short after attempting a run down the right flank, noticeably grimacing and unable to carry on. That injury begs the question: Was it a result of Coquelin being used out of position?

Match analyst Matt Jackson offered the question: When playing as a central midfielder, is Coquelin not expected to make the same genre of runs and overall movement as when he plays at one of the side-back positions? Box-to-box is certainly a marked shift from end-to-end.

Either way, Wenger still saw fit—and rightly so—to reward the young Frenchman with a new contract after his fine displays this season. The terms and length of the contract were not released by the club.

In a Reuters article, the manager spoke of his young charge's injury: "[Coquelin] has a hamstring injury and will be out for a few weeks."

With his long-term future resolved, the question concerning Coquelin now shifts to the next pressing matter. How frequently can he expect to see first-team football after he returns from his injury?

By that time, Bacary Sagna, Arsenal's first-choice right-back, will likely be fit, and at least one left-back (Aly Cisshoko perhaps) will be ready to go, with Andre Santos and Kieran Gibbs both nearing their own returns to first-team football at the left-back position.

Alex Song, just now entering his prime at 24, has firmly embedded himself in the defensive midfield role of Arsenal's 4-2-3-1 formation; and Mikel Arteta, though a bit older at 29, has emerged as the linchpin in the holding creative position alongside the Cameroonian in which Jack Wilshere was so successful a season ago.

It doesn't look likely that Coquelin will breach that veritable ford anytime soon, particularly with Wilshere set to return from injury this month. And while he's been very good as a side-back, his future is in central midfield.

The Frenchman has shown he has the chops to make an impact in the Gunners first team. Will he be content to wait his turn, perhaps forced to make appearances with makeshift lineups in cup competitions?

I certainly don't envision him leaving in a huff à la Lassana Diarra who, upon finding his path to consistent first-team action blocked by more senior members back in 2007 jumped ship to Portsmouth.

But I do worry about Coquelin becoming frustrated over what he might perceive as a misallocation of his considerable quality. As we saw with Wojciech Szczesny back in September 2010, talented youngsters these days want, and sometimes expect, to be given opportunities to prove themselves on the biggest stages.

If first team opportunities come few and far between for Coquelin, will he be tempted to ply his trade at another club, like we've seen other talented Arsenal youngsters do?

For now, we can rest assured that his future lies with Arsenal for what should be a healthy chunk of time.

His progress will be fun to chart. He looks in every way capable of becoming a star in the future, and could certainly emerge as a key contributor for Arsenal.

The only questions appear to be: How often will we see him play, and where?