Who Should Be Arsenal's Priority in Contract Talks?

With the transfer window open until Feb. 1, most talk about contracts surrounds potential new signings. However, all through the season, Arsenal have also been working on negotiating new deals for their existing players.

It’s vital to ensure continuity in the squad and prevent players walking away cheaply under the Bosman ruling. In this respect, Arsenal appear to have learned considerably from the mistakes of the past.

Previously, they were slow to sign up new players, weakening their negotiating position. The likes of Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas were able to leave more cheaply than they otherwise would have because their deals were approaching the expiration date.

Right now, there are three senior Arsenal players whose contracts expire at the end of the current season. Come the summer, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky will all be free to go.

The club will not be in a hurry to enter negotiations with any of those players. For starters, all three are in the latter stages of their careers. They do not hold any residual value.

Arteta may be the club captain, but his contribution this season has been severely limited by injury. Persistent calf and ankle problems have meant that he’s barely figured in the centre of the park. He has begun to embark on a coaching career, and it seems that is where he can now make his contribution.

Darko Bandic/Associated Press

Arsene Wenger certainly seems to believe he has the capacity to become a good coach. Speaking to Arsenal.com, Wenger said:

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Mikel has a huge influence even when he is not playing. He is super conscientious, and every morning two hours before training he prepares and that is absolutely right.

Just through his behaviour, his focus on getting everything right in the team, he has a huge influence. He has great experience and is respected throughout the squad.

I really hope Mikel considers going into coaching. When you manage, you want to see your players continue and see them give their experience and knowledge back.

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If Arteta is awarded a new contract, it will surely be as a member of the coaching staff rather than as a player. His time as a fixture in the first-team squad appears to be up.

The same is true of Rosicky, who has yet to figure for the first team this season after undergoing a knee operation back in August. Although the Czech international is now fit again and ready to rejoin the squad, it’s difficult to foresee him featuring too frequently between now and May.

Despite his youthful looks, Rosicky is now 35. Surely Wenger will decide there’s no need to keep him on until his 36th birthday, especially with the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hoping for more game time.

As for Flamini, his second stint with the club will also surely end in June. The signing of Mohamed Elneny from Basel indicates that Wenger is moving for a replacement in advance. Like Flamini, Elneny is an energetic, aggressive midfielder who can be used as a holding player or from box to box.

So there’s no immediate need for Arsenal to renew any expiring contracts. To discover where they should focus their negotiating energy, we need to look a little further into the future.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

In the summer of 2017, Laurent Koscielny’s Arsenal contract is due to expire, according to Transfermarkt. He last signed what Arsenal.com called a “long-term” deal in May 2014. At the time, Wenger declared: "Laurent has proven himself to be an outstanding player since joining us in 2010 and has showed his quality once again this season. I am delighted he has decided to commit his future to the Club."

However, that deal now has just 18 months to run. This is the time that Arsenal need to step up the negotiating process.

Koscielny is essential for Arsenal. His partnership with Per Mertesacker is the foundation on which their title challenge has been based. Those two players are wildly different but dovetail beautifully to form a very effective central-defensive pairing.

He’s approaching his prime, too. Koscielny is now 30, which is around the peak age for a defender. Wenger must be hoping that the Frenchman can bridge the gap between two generations of centre-backs.

He is marginally younger than Mertesacker and is likely to be retained in the team even if the German is phased out over the coming seasons. Arsenal have two promising younger centre-backs in Gabriel Paulista and Calum Chambers, and Koscielny is an ideal mentor to help introduce them to life as a regular first-team player.

Koscielny and Gabriel could form a particularly exciting partnership. Both players are quick, aggressive and tidy on the ball. The indications are that they could be Arsenal’s central-defensive pairing for the foreseeable future.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

If Arsenal don’t tie Koscielny down, there will be plenty of clubs ready and waiting to pounce. He is no longer the unknown who arrived from Lorient to shrugs of indifference among the Arsenal supporters. He’s now a regular international and recognised as one of the best centre-halves on the continent. 

That’s alerted the attention of some European giants. Last summer, Darren Lewis of the Mirror reported that Real Madrid were interested in snatching Koscielny away from London:

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Real Madrid are ready to launch a £21 million raid for Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny.

The La Liga giants have targeted the Frenchman following the breakdown in negotiations over a new deal for Sergio Ramos.

But Arsenal will fight to keep 29-year-old Koscielny who remains a key member of their defence and signed a new long-term contract last year.

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Arsenal know that dallying at this point is dangerous. If Koscielny were to decide he wanted to move this summer, his price tag will be significantly hurt by the fact that his contract is just 12 months from expiration. 

The Gunners must move to protect one of their prize assets. It’s time to tie Koscielny down for what could prove to be his best years as a centre-half.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.