I’m happy to stay at Arsenal – for now, says Koscielny

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny insists he is happy to stay with the Gunners and will continue to reject moves away – “for the moment”.

Koscielny has formed part of the Arsenal central defence since joining the Gunners for £8.5million in summer 2010, with the Frenchman winning two FA Cups and two Community Shields during his five-and-a-half-year stay.

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have all been linked with a move for the 30-year-old in recent transfer windows, but Koscielny insists he is happy at the Emirates Stadium.

“There were teams interested in me but I always asked myself if it was worth taking the risk,” Koscielny told Journal du Dimanche. “I’ve seen a good few players leave for a bigger club and find themselves on the substitutes (bench).

“At the start of my career I was often on the bench. I hated it. I said to myself ‘never again’.

“For the moment, I have no reason to go and look elsewhere. I have everything I need to develop myself.”

Koscielny on title race

Koscielny, whose current contract runs until summer 2017, added that although Arsenal head the Premier League title chase after 22 games, nothing is decided yet.

“The title is not a given, but I’d rather be in this position than chasing the others. There are four months left to play so it will be complicated,” he said.

“The Premier League is becoming more of a level playing field. Average teams can recruit very good players [due to TV money] which until now had only joined the top five teams.

“But after 10 years without a trophy, the FA Cup wins have done us good. For the past three years, we’ve kept our spine. We know each other better so that allows us to win matches that we would have lost before.”