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FC Lorient are waiting for a response from Arsène Wenger after submitting their re-negotiated terms for the transfer of Laurent Koscielny. A preliminary deal as agreed on Monday, as revealed by Young Guns, after a meeting with the players agent and President Loïc Féry. However, the terms of the payment structure and a possible youth link up are awaiting the green light from Wenger.

The transfer has been held up due to the Frenchman’s television commitments. Lorient are refusing to release the player until both parties can confirm the minor details, and with Les Merlus returning for pre-season training on Monday, Féry is keen to know a firm answer.

Koscielny’s agent Pierre Laurent confirmed the situation in an interview with Sport.co.uk.

“On Monday I had a meeting with Mr Féry, and he informed me that he has sent a new proposal to Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.”

“The fee was very similar, so it should be okay. I then spoke with Arsène (Wenger) but he has not got his BlackBerry with him, so he does not know the new proposal from FC Lorient. So, for the moment, we are waiting for confirmation from Arsenal and Arsène.”

A potential youth link up would come upon the conclusion of Francis Coquelin’s loan with Lorient. The Gunners are keen to see how he settles and what benefits can be gained from a regular spell in Ligue One, with potentially more promising youngsters heading to France and vice-versa.

Should an ampicable agreement be sealed, Arsenal looks set to have a strong long term relationship with the French outfit.

Francis Coquelin has been presented as an FC Lorient player. The French midfielder has penned a season long loan with the Ligue One outfit and spoke to a selection of the media about the switch today.

Coquelin spoke briefly about his reasons for the surprise switch, whilst also confirming his long term intentions is to remain with Arsenal. Lorient return to full pre-season training on Monday, but the youngster has been given extra time off, due to his precipitation in the UEFA Under 19 European Championships next month.

President Loïc Fery confirmed the details revealed on Young Guns at the start of the month, that discussions over the deal had taken place for a while, and an interest was registered long before the Gunners’ pursuit of Laurent Koscielny. Speaking about how the move came about, Francis said:

“When I went to Arsenal, I didn’t plan to go on loan. But as I said, I wasn’t getting much play time at Arsenal so I don’t think it’s a mistake to come here where they play a quality football. I’ll keep improving, and I’m very happy to sign for Lorient.”

Although primarily a holding defensive midfielder, Coquelin completed the season as Arsenal’s rookie right back. Naturally, there’s intrigue into where the prospects future position is, but his new coach Christian Gourcuff was quick to confirm his intentions.

“He’s a central midfielder. At Arsenal he has played as a right back but I don’t think it’s his best position. He’s a center midfielder, but he can play some games right midfielder.”

Fery was also confronted with questions regarding the on going saga involving Koscielny, but he only went as far as saying Arsenal’s approach was “serious” and there is a “serious” offer.

You can follow Coquelin’s progress with France throughout the summer on Young Guns.

The FA Premier Reserve League are poised to announced a revamp of the structure of second string football in the coming days. The decision comes after Fulham, Stoke City and Birmingham City opted to join Tottenham Hotspur in pulling out Reserve league football.

Huge debates over the current setup, including lack of games, inadequate scheduling and the the North/South divide have seen Neil Banfield and coaches alike frustrated. A number of clubs have long been considering their participation in the Premier Reserve League, but these new rules and regulations are designed to build on the success of the revamp of the Premier Academy League League, bringing in a group style system.

Although the exact setup has not been confirmed, the speculation is that there will be three groups, A-C. Each side will play the other teams in their group twice, home and away, and every other team once, meaning a total of 19 games. The winners of Group A would then face the winners of Group B for the right to meet the Group C winners for the national title. The group lineup is expected to be as below:

Group A: Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Wigan Athletic.
Group B: Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Everton, Liverpool, Sunderland.
Group C: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

This exciting new revamp adds consistency, challenges and more competition to players and coaches but murmurs of discontent that the Premier Reserve League have not gone far enough are already being heard. The ideal format would see a full league formed, but with the funding and club commitments absent, this new revamp appears to be a happy medium.

Further information is expected in the coming days.

Since pizza is one of England’s favourite meals to eat while watching football, Domino’s Pizza will follow the game together with all British fans. To coincide with England’s campaign in South Africa, Domino’s Pizza is hosting two competitions with delicious prizes.

Domino’s Pizza has launched a competition on Facebook to find the current squad’s best lookalikes. To enter the Footballer Lookalike Competition, fans can upload a picture of themselves or their friends via the events tab of the Facebook fan page of Domino’s Pizza UK.  Every week, Domino’s will hand out free pizza vouchers to the best Lampard lookalike, Defoe double or other imitation of one of Fabio Capello’s chosen 23. Meanwhile, Facebook users can vote for their favourite picture too by clicking ‘like’ under each picture. After four weeks, the public’s favourite will win a free pizza party (worth £100) for the final.

Footie fans can also compete for the Domino’s Cup in the online football game On me ‘ead . Prizes include 25 Domino’s Pizza Parties, each worth £100, and various discount codes.  Players have to head footballs from one side of the screen to the other, without letting them hit the ground. Not recommended during the match – you don’t want to miss the first goal!

Terms and conditions apply – see Facebook for more details.



Arsenal have provisionally struck a deal, subject to personal terms and a medical, with FC Lorient for their young centre back Laurent Koscielny, Young Guns has learnt.

The Ligue One outfit announced this morning that Francis Coquelin would be going in the opposite direction, on loan. Although the two deals are not connected, an informal ‘link up’ which could see the two sides exchange youth players, in a similar way to the previous relationship with UD Salamanca, appears to have been the clincher.

No fee has been detailed about Koscielny, yet it’s expected he’ll move for a fee above €10 million euros in total, with potential clauses should Laurent fulfil certain criteria.

More to follow.

Francis Coquelin has joined Ligue One side FC Lorient on a season-long-loan. The deal was announced on the French club’s official website this morning, and as revealed by Young Guns earlier this month, the signing is separate to Arsenal’s hunt for Laurent Koscielny.

Coquelin has signed on loan for the season, and was presented to a small section of fans this morning. He will go straight into the Lorient first-team for pre-season next month. Coach Christian Gourcuff expressed an interest in Francis earlier in the summer, and was initially included in an €8 million euros offer for Koscielny as a ‘sweetner’. However, this was withdrawn when a €10 million offer was made shortly after.

You will be able to follow Coquelin’s progress on Young Guns throughout the season.

Luke Freeman is poised to meet Yeovil Town manager Terry Skiverton this week ahead of sealing a loan move to Huish Park. As revealed on Young Guns earlier this month, the striker has been granted the opportunity to leave Arsenal on loan in a bid for first-team football, and has subsequently chosen The Glovers over Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers.

Now 18, Freeman is wary of his development stalling with the large batch of strikers in the first-team and has requested a loan switch following a meeting with Arsène Wenger. Championship side Queens Park Rangers immediately moved in and offered Luke a deal, but League One Yeovil went a step further, promising a regular starting spot, albeit it in a lower division. With match minutes the key reason for leaving, Town was the obvious choice.

Former Arsenal defender Luke Ayling made the loan move to Huish Park last term, and although he has since made the arrangement a permanent one, a glowing recommendation to Freeman helped seal the deal. Skiverton is now set to meet the prospect, who bagged an impressive 17 goals across all competitions last season, to lay out his plans.

Wenger will have the final decision on the length of the loan, but the traditional one month ‘taster’ with the option for an extension until January is expected to be on the cards.

Agents working on behalf of Arsenal striker Jay Simpson have offered the services of the forward to Cypriot Champions Omonia Nicosia. The 21-year-old has been told he free to leave the club this summer, although he is keen to remain in England.

Simpson is about to enter the final year of his contract and returns to North London after a season in the Championship with Queens Park Rangers. He bagged 12 goals in 39 fixtures for the R’s but his form tailed away in the closing stages of the season and a permanent move isn’t on the cards. League One side Peterborough United have expressed a tentative interest.

Omonia are prepared to offer Jay a lengthy contract with a large signing on fee, after being tipped off by former Gunner and close friend of the striker Georgios Efrem. Simpson is keen to hold off the offer with the hope of a move to a Premier League or top half Championship side, but if that fails to materialise, a short term loan with a a view to a permanent deal could go through.

More to follow.

Arsenal and Atlético Madrid are still in talks over a compensation package for midfielder Fran Mérida. The Spanish under 21 international returned to his home land almost a month ago, yet an agreement has not been reached over how much Madrid will pay, with Fran being under 24. Should neither party be able to finalise an arrangement, a UEFA tribunal will decide the amount.

Mérida was out of contract with Arsenal but he was not a free agent. FIFA rules dictate a player can exchange club’s at the end of a contract, but if the player is under 24 years of age, a compensation fee must be paid. This “training allowance” is decided between the two clubs, but commonly they fail to agree on a price, so UEFA intervene and decide on a figure.

This kind of legal case is not new to Fran, who was forced to pay €3.2 million to former employers Barcelona after being fined for “failing to meet the terms of a personal pre-contract”. Arsenal are believed to value the play-maker at around £3 million, whereas Atlético believe a figure around half of that is fair for a player with just 6 Premier League appearances.

It seems destined that a tribunal will decide, yet this controversial method of deciding a players value has outraged a number of club’s, including Crystal Palace when they signed John Bostock and Manchester City over the Daniel Sturridge deal.