Francis Coquelin reminisced to Arsenal Player about his initial experiences at the club and how it helped him to develop as a player.
A well-known Arsenal scout – Giles Grimandi – recommended the French youth from Stade Lavallois to Arsene Wenger, who offered him a trial at London Colney.
And Coquelin, aged 16 at the time, felt the palpable intensity of the training session.
I remember my first training session with the first team and it was war. I said to the boss at the door when I left, ‘This is different!’
I remember seeing two players fighting in training, and I had an argument with Jens Lehmann as well and I was thinking, ‘Wow, where am I?’
Despite sporting a thigh injury, Coquelin did enough to impress his superiors and earned himself a deal in July of that year. Whilst now he would have no regrets over his decision, at the time the decision was not as straightforward.
It was a difficult decision because I had to leave my family in France.
Two weeks later we had the European Under-17 Championship and I was more worried about whether I would be alright to play in that [than whether I would get a deal].
But I thought it was time for me to go, so I went.
As was the case with most of the youngsters part of Wenger’s ambitious Project Youth, Coquelin faced plenty of difficulties settling into his new football club.
The Frenchman had to juggle a niggling thigh problem with the struggles of adapting to a new culture, a new home and a new level of football. It didn’t help that he was entailed to play right back during his opening season at the club.
It was tough at first. When you’re young, staying in a hotel room and not doing anything, not seeing your friends, not speaking the language, eating different food… it’s hard.
Then I was straight in training with the first team, so I wasn’t really in with the reserves who were my age, and the only guy I could talk to was Gilles Sunu. He was injured at the time so the first month was difficult for me.
But what helped me a lot was when I moved in with my first lodging family in Enfield. I’m still really close to them now and actually feel like part of the family.
It really helped because I was talking to them every day so it felt a bit like home. On the pitch I felt much better too, and then I got to speak the language.
My first year was unbelievable to be honest.
If his first year constituted unbelievable, then one would be hard-pressed to find a superlative for his achievements last season.
Having his loan spell from Charlton cut short around December, Coquelin grabbed on to his Christmas miracle with both hands and performed impressively for the second half of the season, earning him a bumper contract with a pay rise.
Wenger’s faith in him has been profound – unwilling to buy a central midfielder amidst Morgan Schneiderlin and Arturo Vidal making moves. And after a shaky start, an assured performance against Manchester United may mean that Coquelin is getting back to his best.
