*A lot of rumors circulating about several Arsenal players leaving during this transfer window. One of them is, of course, Sanchez who is rumored to Manchester City, but other rumors is suggesting Coquelin might leave for Valencia. The fee is set to be about 10m £, which is extremely low taking the recent transfers into consideration. I will try to share some thoughts on the Coquelin deal.* -------------------------------------- ### Coquelin Back in 2014/2015 Coquelin was called back from his loan spell. Due to injuries, Wenger, was forced to recall some of his players on loan. Coquelin was one of them. Nobody had expectations, and all of us just thought he would be another player sitting on the bench, but what happened in that season was remarkable.Not since Vieira had I seen a DM play like that. Take a look at this clip. It's pure beauty. The way he reads the play was outstanding. Sadly he doesn't play like that anymore. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MSoe_k8F6Q Back then we would play with three players at the center of the midfield. Now, we play with two. This means that if Coquelin plays he is forced to go forward and create chances, dribble past a man etc. In other words, he is forced to do the stuff he just can't. When he had his best performances he played the defensive role in a three-man midfield. Constantly, he would tackle the ball and immediately play it to more creative players. It's like he now thinks he has to do more than the simple things he did. He thinks he has to score goals, make assists, etc, but the beauty of his play in 2014-2016 was the discipline and the understanding of when he played his best. He understood that by always back up the defense he was doing the exact job he could do, and was told to do. Now he is doing the job he can't do, but probably is told to do, by a manager that seems to have lost control, as well as the understanding of what his players are capable of. ---------------------------------- #### Sum-up *I think that to sell Coquelin for 10m £ is as stupid as it can get. He is playing in a formation that doesn't fit him. He is playing a role he simply can't. He needs a three-man midfield to do what he does best. I think we will regret the sale of Coquelin.*