Francis Coquelin has reflected on his time at Arsenal, hailing the likes of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla.
Now with Unai Emery at Villarreal, the Frenchman had to bide his time in north London before establishing himself as a regular towards the end of Arsene Wenger’s time in charge.
Thrust back into the starting lineup to cover for injuries only a short time after joining Charlton on loan, Coquelin formed an impressive midfield pivot with Cazorla in particular, one that helped Arsenal beat Manchester City away from home in 2015.
Largely, traveling to other big six teams had been a miserable experience for the club but Coquelin - at least for a short while - proved an internal solution of sorts and played the entirety of the FA Cup final win over Aston Villa later that year.
Ultimately, he would join Valencia in January 2018 after falling out favour, before moving to Villarreal in the summer of 2020.
Ahead of their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Wednesday, Coquelin spoke in glowing terms about some of his former teammates.
“It was amazing!” he told So Foot.
“I was playing with Santi Cazorla and Mesut Özil in front of me. I could send them rubbish balls, and they controlled them with ease.
“The understanding I had with Cazorla particularly stayed with me. He’s really impressive. I could do what I wanted on the pitch, I knew he would always there as a guarantee.”
