The 22-year-old who could make or break a key summer transfer for Arsenal

Follow us on Google Discover

Francis Coquelin could be the key to Arsenal’s attempts to sign Matthias Ginter from FC Freiburg.

Steve Rowley, Arsenal’s chief scout, was at Freiburg’s Bundesliga win at Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend, most likely to watch 20-year-old centre back Matthias Ginter.

Ginter is being strongly linked with a summer move to the Gunners as Arsene Wenger looks to sure up his defence ahead of next season and they could well have had their noses ahead in the race to sign him all season.

Arsenal’s decision to loan 22-year-old Francis Coquelin to the Bundesliga side is something which has created a number of potential benefits and advantages the club can use to sign Ginter ahead of any rival club interested in him.

Firstly, the decision to loan Coquelin to Freiburg wins Arsenal points in terms of good faith. It created a business relationship and opened a dialogue between the two clubs which will be important if Arsenal want Ginter this summer.

The decision to loan out their player also provides the Gunners with an extra line of reference to go alongside their scouting reports.

Coquelin is someone who is training and playing alongside Ginter and he’ll have better experience of Ginter’s game and what he’s like as a central defender, feeding that information back to his parent club.

Coquelin also provides Arsenal with an advantage in the respect that he’s a player Arsenal can use in part exchange should they want to go about a Ginter deal in that fashion.

Freiburg are a well respected German club but they are not one of the Bundesliga big boys.

They may be forced to sell Ginter once big European sides start making their interest official but as is the case with so many teams, they may be unwilling to do any deal until they have an extra squad player in place.

Coquelin is a midfielder and not a direct replacement for Ginter but he represents Freiburg potentially gaining a player on a permanent deal who can improve another area of the squad.

Coquelin is unlikely to get game time in the Arsenal midfield next season with so many fantastic options for Arsene Wenger in the middle of his side. Why not use Coquelin to get Ginter while that opportunity is there?