Arsenal’s forgotten man Laurent Koscielny is closing in on a first-team return as he prepares to feature for the club’s U23s side.
The London Evening Standard reports that the French defender will be given a run out as he continues to recover from an Achilles injury that has kept him sidelined since May.
The report claims that the Gunners have initially pencilled in a game away to Derby on Monday in the Premier League 2 as a potential opportunity for the experienced defender to get some minutes under his belt.
Arsenal boss Unai Emery confirmed the plans during his pre-match press conference.
Koscielny is close to starting to play minutes little by little. Our first idea is to start [him playing] with the U23s.
But these two weeks [during the international break] in training with us, he is looking well with a good performance, good feeling, and is close to play with us as well. But maybe Monday he will play with the U23s.
Koscielny has been training with the first-team squad but is believed to still be some way off a return to competitive action.
The long-term injury has cast doubts over his future at Arsenal, with it yet to be seen what role, if any at all he will play under Emery.
