“The progress is very good” – Emery confirms imminent Koscielny return

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Arsenal manager Unai Emery says that Laurent Koscielny is making good progress in his return to fitness, but wouldn’t confirm if he would be available against West Ham this weekend. 

Koscielny has been out of action for the Gunners since May after rupturing his Achilles tendon against Atletico Madrid, an injury which also ruled him out of France’s World Cup-winning campaign this summer.

But the 51-time Les Bleus international is now active again at the club’s training centre, with Emery saying he is close to returning to action.

He told reporters (via FourFourTwo): “He’s working very hard. He came back to us last Sunday.

“We are happy to have him here with us, because he’s our captain and he’s showing us his spirit to stay with us. We need to be patient with him because the injury was an important injury.”

When asked about Koscielny’s availability for this Saturday’s game against West Ham, Emery replied: “It’s difficult to know. You look at this morning, he’s running, he’s working on the pitch.

“The progress is very good progress.”

Given Arsenal’s poor start to the season, losing to both Manchester City and Chelsea, Emery will be keen to get Koscielny back in action as soon as possible – despite his lengthy layoff, Koscielny still made the second most clearances (134) and won the second most aerial duels (80) of any Arsenal defender in the Premier League last season.

The ex-Sevilla manager has paired Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos at the heart of Arsenal’s defence for their opening two games but has seen his side ship five goals in that time.

Arsenal’s game against West Ham is one of four 3 pm kick-offs in the Premier League on Saturday.

 

 

The post “The progress is very good” – Emery confirms imminent Koscielny return appeared first on Squawka News.



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