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Lorient president Loic Fery won't close door on Laurent Koscielny’s Arsenal move
Les Merlus’ chief says centre-back can leave if right offer arrives
4 Jun 2010 11:36:00
By Robin Bairner
EXCLUSIVE
With Arsenal having reportedly had their initial bid for defender Laurent Koscielny rejected by Lorient, the French club's president, Loic Fery, has spoken exclusively to Goal.com about their transfer policy this summer.
The Breton club have just enjoyed the strongest season in their history, and les Merlus are on the verge of what could prove to be a turbulent window of transfer activity.
Many Lorient players are on the shortlist of other European clubs. Though Fery prefers to remain discreet about possible departures, the president says that no-one is untransferable.
Goal.com: According to L'Equipe, Lorient refused an offer of £8.2 million (€10m) for Laurent Koscielny from Arsenal. Is there truth to it?
Loic Fery: We have a policy that is not to comment on rumours or information related to the transfer window. During the winter break, we made no comment, and on the last day of the transfer window, we announced two signings [Gregory Bourillon and Sebastian Dubarbier]. We were the second club, after Lyon, to have invested the most in the winter transfer window. Expect the same from us; we will not comment on the arrivals and departures before they are made.
I can reveal that several of our players are extremely sought after - and not necessarily those whom everyone thinks. I'm not going to complain; there are a lot of ‘big clubs’, or clubs who aspire to become great. We envisage departures when we receive an offer we can’t refuse. This means that nobody is untransferable, but we are not necessarily sellers.
Moreover, we have made proposals for the extension of contracts to many players, precisely because the club wants to create a squad as stable as possible. Now, if initially there must be departures, it will be done under conditions that allow us to effectively replace the players, and continue to have the same production on the field of play.
Goal.com: What, more specifically, is an "offer that we can’t refuse"?
Loic Fery: There is no set price. As we are not sellers, we do not set prices. There are buyers to make offers that we can’t refuse.
Goal.com: Currently, can Lorient afford to refuse an offer of £8.2m (€10m)?
Loic Fery: We do not need to sell today. We are fortunate to be one of three clubs amongst the 40 sides in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to have positive [financial] results. We are also fortunate to have a fairly solid financial structure, which allows us to consider not selling before next season.
Goal.com: Not being forced to sell, better management of transfers... Is this a sign that Lorient are now playing in the big leagues?
Loic Fery: That is not for me to answer; I’m not best placed. We believe that, to be consistent with our ambitions, we must be able to manage the transfer window. This does not mean that players who come to Lorient cannot go, but if a player has to leave, this must happen with positive conditions for the club, which still has sporting ambitions.
There was perhaps a time when we developed players, and clubs and other intermediaries in France benefited from this work by not paying a price equal to the quality of the player. Look at the players who left Lorient last summer. [Fabrice] Abriel, who has started three-quarters of the time in Marseille, [Christophe] Jallet is the same for Paris Saint-Germain, and there has been [Michael] Ciani, who has started for Bordeaux and has been integrated into the France team. Did Lorient make big sales last year? It is not for me to comment upon, but what we want is that if players have true quality, and they must leave Lorient, then they should for a good price.
Goal.com: Losing key players in your squad, such as Kevin Gameiro, Laurent Koscielny or Arnold Mvuemba... this would not be detrimental to the club?
Loic Fery: For the moment, they are not gone [laughs]. No player under contract is gone, and we have made no agreement with clubs about any transfer. Anyway, if a transfer should occur, it will be conducted with conditions that seem acceptable to allow us to preserve our team’s competitiveness. In all the big clubs, there are players who leave each year. Last season, half the squad left OM, yet they have become champions of France this year. So it happens, it's part of club life, but they must go at a good price.
Goal.com: What position(s) do you want to strengthen?
Loic Fery: For now, we have a fairly stable squad. Our recruitment cell, along with [coach] Christian Gourcuff, is working on various positions that are more ad hoc additions compared to the existing workforce. If there are departures, obviously, they would result in replacements.
Goal.com: Do you have a specific budget for this transfer window?
Loic Fery: Not particularly. We will act the same way as we did in the winter transfer window. We invested nearly €5m (£4.2m) because it seemed relevant at the time. But we did not set a budget for recruitment.
Goal.com: 19-year-old Autret Mathias has signed with Lorient. What do you think of the club's first aquisition?
Loic Fery: We're obviously pleased that a player who was sought by top clubs in France has made the choice of Lorient. This shows that players like Autret believe in the competitiveness of the club. I think he will grow at Lorient and also strengthen the squad.
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With Arsenal having reportedly had their initial bid for defender Laurent Koscielny rejected by Lorient, the French club's president, Loic Fery, has spoken exclusively to Goal.com about their transfer policy this summer.
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The Breton club have just enjoyed the strongest season in their history, and les Merlus are on the verge of what could prove to be a turbulent window of transfer activity.
Many Lorient players are on the shortlist of other European clubs. Though Fery prefers to remain discreet about possible departures, the president says that no-one is untransferable.
LAURENT KOSCIELNY | Snapshot
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Goal.com: According to L'Equipe, Lorient refused an offer of £8.2 million (€10m) for Laurent Koscielny from Arsenal. Is there truth to it?
Loic Fery: We have a policy that is not to comment on rumours or information related to the transfer window. During the winter break, we made no comment, and on the last day of the transfer window, we announced two signings [Gregory Bourillon and Sebastian Dubarbier]. We were the second club, after Lyon, to have invested the most in the winter transfer window. Expect the same from us; we will not comment on the arrivals and departures before they are made.
I can reveal that several of our players are extremely sought after - and not necessarily those whom everyone thinks. I'm not going to complain; there are a lot of ‘big clubs’, or clubs who aspire to become great. We envisage departures when we receive an offer we can’t refuse. This means that nobody is untransferable, but we are not necessarily sellers.
Moreover, we have made proposals for the extension of contracts to many players, precisely because the club wants to create a squad as stable as possible. Now, if initially there must be departures, it will be done under conditions that allow us to effectively replace the players, and continue to have the same production on the field of play.
Goal.com: What, more specifically, is an "offer that we can’t refuse"?
Loic Fery: There is no set price. As we are not sellers, we do not set prices. There are buyers to make offers that we can’t refuse.
Goal.com: Currently, can Lorient afford to refuse an offer of £8.2m (€10m)?
Loic Fery: We do not need to sell today. We are fortunate to be one of three clubs amongst the 40 sides in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to have positive [financial] results. We are also fortunate to have a fairly solid financial structure, which allows us to consider not selling before next season.
Goal.com: Not being forced to sell, better management of transfers... Is this a sign that Lorient are now playing in the big leagues?
Loic Fery: That is not for me to answer; I’m not best placed. We believe that, to be consistent with our ambitions, we must be able to manage the transfer window. This does not mean that players who come to Lorient cannot go, but if a player has to leave, this must happen with positive conditions for the club, which still has sporting ambitions.
There was perhaps a time when we developed players, and clubs and other intermediaries in France benefited from this work by not paying a price equal to the quality of the player. Look at the players who left Lorient last summer. [Fabrice] Abriel, who has started three-quarters of the time in Marseille, [Christophe] Jallet is the same for Paris Saint-Germain, and there has been [Michael] Ciani, who has started for Bordeaux and has been integrated into the France team. Did Lorient make big sales last year? It is not for me to comment upon, but what we want is that if players have true quality, and they must leave Lorient, then they should for a good price.
Goal.com: Losing key players in your squad, such as Kevin Gameiro, Laurent Koscielny or Arnold Mvuemba... this would not be detrimental to the club?
Loic Fery: For the moment, they are not gone [laughs]. No player under contract is gone, and we have made no agreement with clubs about any transfer. Anyway, if a transfer should occur, it will be conducted with conditions that seem acceptable to allow us to preserve our team’s competitiveness. In all the big clubs, there are players who leave each year. Last season, half the squad left OM, yet they have become champions of France this year. So it happens, it's part of club life, but they must go at a good price.
Goal.com: What position(s) do you want to strengthen?
Loic Fery: For now, we have a fairly stable squad. Our recruitment cell, along with [coach] Christian Gourcuff, is working on various positions that are more ad hoc additions compared to the existing workforce. If there are departures, obviously, they would result in replacements.
Goal.com: Do you have a specific budget for this transfer window?
Loic Fery: Not particularly. We will act the same way as we did in the winter transfer window. We invested nearly €5m (£4.2m) because it seemed relevant at the time. But we did not set a budget for recruitment.
Goal.com: 19-year-old Autret Mathias has signed with Lorient. What do you think of the club's first aquisition?
Loic Fery: We're obviously pleased that a player who was sought by top clubs in France has made the choice of Lorient. This shows that players like Autret believe in the competitiveness of the club. I think he will grow at Lorient and also strengthen the squad.
Become a fan of Goal.com UK's Facebook fan page for all the latest news and insight into everything related to the beautiful game!
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 2-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
19:24 BST
No, no, no. I'll have none of that Emile Heskey shouting anymore! Hello, it's me, it's me, it's that D-O-Y-L-E. Yes, I'm Joe Doyle, and I'll be here for all the reaction to that England game. First things first, how did everyone see that game? Good performance? A touch boring? Let me know on Twitter.
19:17 BST
Right, that’s me, Danny Hart, done. Joe Doyle is itching to retain his LIVE! crown for the evening. England reaction, Netherlands-Northern Ireland updates and much, much more - Doyle will be across it all. England are gonna win the Euros! And remember: EMILE HESKEY. Cheerio!
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