Laurent Koscielny was considering “two or three offers” to leave Arsenal last season before he tore his Achilles tendon in May, according to his agent.

The 32-year-old was stretchered off in agony after suffering the injury during Arsenal’s defeat against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final tie, and missed out on France’s triumphant World Cup campaign in Russia as a result.

But in an interview with France Football, Koscielny’s agent Stephane Courbis revealed that the injury also cost his client the possibility of a move back to Ligue 1 or to China last summer.

Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Show all 23 1 /23 Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings We run the rule over the two teams Arsenal FC via Getty Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Neil Etheridge - 7/10 Had defenders making errors in front of him, particularly in the first half but he made some good saves and interceptions. Enjoyed a good start to the season. REUTERS Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Bruno Ecuele Manga - 6 Was a reasonable performance but he did make a few sliced clearances and didn’t look as comfortable as his fellow full-back. Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Sean Morrison - 6 Made a few uncharacteristic errors with the ball at his feet which led to a few dangerous situations but was also a threat himself going forward. Set up Cardiff’s second equaliser. Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Sol Bamba - 6 Strong performance as usual but like the rest of the defenders, he’ll have better days. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Joe Bennett - 7 Was probably the most composed of all the defenders at the actual art of defending but also sent in some good crosses, as well as the one that tee’d up Camarasa for the goal. AFP/Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Victor Camarasa - 7 Tenacious player and scoring Cardiff’s first goal of the season is worthy of any good rating. It was a smashing goal too, right on the cusp of half time. Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Harry Arter - 6 Missed two very good opportunities so hard to give him such a good rating but was still his normal dogged self in midfield and didn’t give Arsenal a moment’s peace. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Joe Ralls - 7 Sent in some good crosses from free-kicks and was strong in midfield. Had a big say in Cardiff’s better moments. REUTERS Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Junior Hoilett - 7 Really good performance for the left-side of Cardiff and Hoilett, like Bennett, sent in a number of testing crosses but also helped on the defensive side. AFP/Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Bobby Reid - 6 Was probably the better of the two strikers in an overall sense, trying to create and run at Arsenal’s defence but it didn’t always go to plan. Some of his decisions in the final third were somewhat questionable. REUTERS Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Danny Ward - 7 Will have been disappointed in the first half that he didn’t take his opportunity in the starting XI but improved in the second half and netted Cardiff’s second equaliser with a wonderfully placed header. Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Petr Cech - 5 I’m sorry Petr but it’s very hard to give a good rating when distribution is so consistently poor. What he’s being requested to do is how some teams choose to play at the moment but there’s no getting away from the fact it does not suit Cech at the moment. They say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks and there’s no denying that he’s trying but it will no doubt cause more issues for the side. REUTERS Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Hector Bellerin - 6 Typical Bellerin performance where he looked to offer a lot more going forward than he did in his defensive duties. To be fair to him, Ozil didn’t give him much help. Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Sokratis Papastathopoulos - 6 Neither of the Arsenal centre halves seem to be assured defenders and they certainly had their wobbles today. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Shkodran Mustafi - 6 Like Sokratis, you don’t have full confidence in Mustafi to dominate his defensive line but he did score a smashing header in the first half. Arsenal FC via Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Nacho Monreal - 6 Got sucked in for Cardiff’s equaliser and wasn’t his same self going forward. REUTERS Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Matteo Guendouzi - 7 Looks young and fresh and is bound to make some errors in his journey but looks a more assured figure, even in his youth, than Xhaka. REUTERS Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Granit Xhaka - 6 Talk of the devil. Very frustrating player because he has talent as we can see with his assist for the Gunners’ first goal but he also gave an incredibly sloppy pass away which led to Cardiff’s first equaliser. Not reliable. Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Mesut Ozil - 6 Not particularly helpful in a defensive sense, not that that comes as any surprise to anyone, but he did link up well with Aubameyang and Lacazette up front. REUTERS Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Aaron Ramsey - 7 Made some nice touches and crosses despite getting a warning of rough treatment pre-game from Neil Warnock. Looked comfortable back at his old home. REUTERS Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 7 Was shifted out wide for today with Lacazette taking the more central berth and the first half didn’t go his way with touches going awry but it came together in the second half with him scoring his first goal of the season, and a great one at that. Getty Images Cardiff vs Arsenal - player ratings Alexandre Lacazette - 8 A really top performance from the Frenchman who led the line well, had some fantastic touches, assisted Arsenal’s second and scored the winning goal. Will definitely be hoping to keep his place in the starting XI. PA

"At that time, Laurent was playing what might have been his final matches with Arsenal," Courbis said.

"Laurent started to consider a possible move away from Arsenal at the same time as Arsene [Wenger]. The moment was right, leaving as [a] new coach arrived. I had already anticipated this and two or three offers were making us think hard.

"We were open to a number of options. China was one, as much as a return to France. Laurent could not see himself playing for another English team outside of Arsenal. Since Marseille's approach last season, the idea of a Ligue 1 return got him thinking. It was a genuine possibility.”

Laurent Koscielny returned to Arsenal over the weekend (Arsenal FC via Getty)

Koscielny is not expected to return to full fitness for several more months, but returned to London Colney two weeks ago to continue his rehabilitation and could yet play a significant first-team role under Unai Emery, who was announced as Arsene Wenger’s successor in May.

Arsenal have struggled defensively to adapt to Emery’s style in the early weeks of this season, with Shkrodan Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos failing to convince as a central partnership and goalkeeper Petr Cech making several high-profile errors while attempting to control and distribute the ball with short passes under pressure.

Koscielny revealed last month that he intends to leave Arsenal when his contract expires in the summer of 2020, but Emery still believes his captain can have a positive impact on the team once he gets back to full fitness.