It's Official: Koscielny Signed to Arsenal

Arsenal.com have officially announced that Arsenal Football Club has signed Laurent Koscielny for a reported £8.5 million.

As an Arsenal fan, this is good news, because we seemed to have lost a majority of our centre-backs over the last couple of weeks. With Gallas , Silvestre , and Senderos all leaving as free agents, and Sol Campbell, who Arsene Wenger signed on a short contract during the winter transfer market, under much speculation.

Arsene Wenger pointed to the fact that Arsenal conceded too many goals last season, and signing the French born defender shows that he is addressing those needs and bolstering the squad. The signing in turn hopefully allows Arsenal to make a season-long challenge for the title; where previously Arsenal’s progression has been marred by injuries to key players at vital stages of the season.

Everyone should, by now, recognise last summer's super-signing in Thomas Vermaelen who signed from Ajax for £10 million. He was relatively unknown to most before his transfer to Arsenal, but in his debut season he made a big impact on the Premier League, with 33 appearances and seven goals, quite a tally for a defender.

He has now established himself as one of the best defenders in England with his inclusion in the PFA Team of the Season.

Hopefully Arsene Wenger has made another wise decision in signing the defender from Ligue 1 Club, FC Lorient .

Koscielny only spent the one season at the Ligue 1 club, bought by Lorient for a mere €1.5 million on the 16 of June 2009, but the centre-back put on a string of excellent performances which landed him in the eyes of Arsenal.

Whether he will be used as a back-up or a starter in the 2010-2011 season is yet to be seen. Still, at 6’1” Koscielny has the physical presence to be a star in the Premier League, and as a bonus he is still only 24, allowing him plenty of time to adapt his game to Arsenal and to the EPL .

In truth this is a typical Wenger signing, and I can’t wait for the new season to begin to see how our new defender performs.

In Arsene we trust.