Francis Joseph Coquelin

Francis Coquelin arrived at Arsenal's academy as a teenager from Stade Lavallois in a deal reportedly worth €1 million, and he went on to make 160 appearances for the club across a decade. Loan spells at Lorient, Freiburg and Charlton Athletic punctuated those years at Arsenal before he settled back into the side. His time there brought two FA Cups and two Community Shields.

A €14 million move took him to Valencia in January 2018, and two years later he switched to Villarreal for €13 million. There, he was a squad member when Villarreal won the UEFA Europa League in 2021, though injury kept him out of the final itself.

Coquelin joined Nantes on a free transfer in January 2025, and in the 2025–2026 season he made 22 appearances and scored once for the club. Off the back of that, he returned to Stade Lavallois, the club where he began, on a free transfer.

Internationally, Coquelin never earned a cap for the senior France side, but he ran through the youth ranks at U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 level, gathering 43 caps in total. He was part of the France side that won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2010.