It is instructive to note that the newly named captain Koscielny has been currently out with an ankle injury for months now and he captained the team last season in place of Per Mertesacker when the latter sustained injury which led him to be managing the Arsenal academy team.

On the appointments, Emery unequivocally said: "The captain of this group is Laurent Koscielny, who is injured at the moment. After Laurent, our other captains are Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, and Granit Xhaka".

Ahead of Emery's Premier League opening match at home against Manchester City on Sunday, it is inevitable that it is one of the assistant captains that will captain the team because of the absence of the French centre back.