Real Madrid have apparently set their beedy eyes on Laurent Koscielny, the man tipped by many to be the next captain of Arsenal.

I first noted this rumour on the Real Madrid site, defensacentral.com, and it is light on details to say the least. That hasn’t stopped it spreading.

The reason I thought it was worth talking about is simple – it’s a natural progression of Koscielny’s rising profile to see him linked with a move away and given the club and manager involved, it is perhaps something we should take a bit seriously just in case.

This isn’t the first time he’s been linked with a move, either. Manchester United are said to want him and if I remember correctly there have also been links to the Bundesliga.

Of course, another club wanting him and getting him are two very different things.

But speaking in January, Kos said “For the moment, I have no reason to go anywhere else. I have all that I need to thrive here. I have had contacts [with other clubs], but I always asked myself if it was worth taking the risk.

“I have seen a fair amount of players leave for a bigger club just to find themselves on the bench.

“At the start of my career, I was often on the bench. I hated it. I told myself: never again. I made risky choices: by leaving Guingamp for Tours, in the National [3rd division], I did not know where I was going. But I knew that I had the abilities for Ligue 1.”

‘For the moment’.

It is claimed that the Spaniards are resigned to losing Raphael Varane this summer and are be on the lookout for a replacement.

It is also claimed that Zinedine Zidane has been ‘wooing’ him in France during the Euros which could be more than a little concerning if true.

How do you say no to those two things – Zidane and Real Madrid – when you aren’t Arsenal through and through?