Laurent Koscielny ready for legal battle with Arsenal after being told to take FIFTY per cent pay cut

LAURENT KOSCIELNY is ready for a legal showdown with Arsenal after being told to take a FIFTY per cent pay cut.

The striking skipper is due to meet with the club’s lawyers today after refusing to participate in the tour of America.

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And he is in no mood to back down in the fight to force his way back to France as a free agent.

Koscielny, 33, is fuming at what he considers to be a derisory contract offer from Arsenal which would effectively slash his salary by half.

He still has 12 months to run on his current £90,000-a-week deal and had hoped to extend his stay at the club he joined from Lorient back in 2010.

Talks about a new deal were held with the club before the end of the season but quickly broke down over personal terms.

And the Frenchman was stunned when he was told Arsenal were only prepared to pay him £45,000-a-week over the following two years with the chance to top up his salary based on appearances.

The injury-prone defender has taken that offer as a massive slap in the face because he knows he is not going to be able to play in every match.

He missed 27 games last term and was unable to play more than once a week during the run-in.

Arsenal’s late-season collapse and failure to qualify for the Champions League has cost them £50million and contributed to them taking such a hard-line stance with their club captain.

Unai Emery’s side continued their tour with a 2-1 friendly triumph over Bayern Munich, while Koscielny was forced to train with the youth team at London Colney and faces a fine of two weeks’ wages.

Koscielny has told Arsenal that he wants to leave after being promised a two-year contract by Bordeaux with the option of a further 12 months.

But the Ligue 1 club’s generous offer only applies if there is no transfer fee involved.

And the hard-up Gunners are in no mood to allow their skipper to leave for nothing and are demanding a fee of £9m.