Laurent Koscielny linked with Arsenal and Vermaelen wants Gallas to stay

Personally I prefer Per Mertesacker to Laurent Koscielny, but who cares if a deal for him goes through, and at last Gallas can boast of a friend in Thomas.

According to the Mirror, Arsenal are set to bid for Lorient's sought after centre-back Koscielny, who is valued by the French outfit at a paltry £8m.

With Arsene Wenger keen on improving his defensive options ahead of next summer's business: "My transfer policy this summer will be to keep our strengths going forward, add one player, and add more defensive strength to our team." He's expected to move for the impressive defender, who the report believes is vastly experienced beyond his age (24) and quite cheap too.

Meanwhile, Premier League revelation and Arsenal' defensive enforcer Thomas Vermaelen has revealed that he's part of William Gallas' camp at the North London club - remember Nasri's allegation, that four or five current Arsenal players don't speak with the Frenchman.

The ex Gunner is currently in talks with the club over an (unlikely) extension to his contract, which officially ends in the summer.

Unlikely, because
Arsenal' chairman Peter Hill-wood has stated emphatically that the club won't succumb to the seasoned defender's "extravagant" requirements: "His demands are quite extravagant and I don't think we are prepared to go along with it."

But Vermaelen, whose successful partnership with Gallas worked wonders at some stages of our chequered campaign wants Arsenal to keep the 32-year-old at all cost because of the understanding they've fostered on the pitch: "It seemed to work pretty much straightaway," Vermaelen said of the partnership during an interview with Arsenal's official matchday magazine.

"That's because William is a really quality player, a top defender, so it is automatically easy to play with him. We talked a lot and I think I've had a good relationship with him on the pitch."