Rennes president Olivier Letang has revealed why the French club did not sign Laurent Koscielny from Arsenal this summer, with the centre-back ultimately joining Bordeaux.

This summer saw 34-year-old defender Koscielny force his way out of Premier League giants Arsenal, ending his nine-year spell with the Gunners.  

 



While the Frenchman went on strike to leave Arsenal, French Ligue 1 clubs Rennes and Bordeaux expressed their interest in signing him.

The centre-back ended up signing for Les Girondins, but Rennes had already pulled out of the race by then.
 


Letang, who serves as the president for Rennes, has revealed that they stopped chasing Koscielny due to his age and also the length of contract put on the table for him by Bordeaux.



"It is us who stopped the chase at one point", Letang said on TVR's En Pleine Lucarne programme.

"We took a step back because Laurent is 34 years old and he signed a five-year contract at Bordeaux.
 

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"We did not want, as a club, to make such a long commitment."

Koscielny, who joined Bordeaux for a fee in the region of £4.6m, split opinion amongst Arsenal fans due to the way he pushed to leave the Emirates Stadium.

He made over 350 appearances across all competitions for Arsenal and won the FA Cup twice.