Back in November 2014, with Arsenal once again looking elsewhere for inspiration and calls for investment to be made in a world-class holding midfielder building around Emirates Stadium, Francis Coquelin was ushered out on loan to Championship side Charlton Athletic.

A mother later, with the Gunners facing an injury crisis with Ramsey joining the likes of Monreal and Chambers on the sidelines, Coquelin was asked to return to the Emirates.

Quite remarkably, there is now every chance that the Laval born midfielder could go from taking in second tier football at The Valley to gracing the senior international stage at the Stade de France in the space of seven spectacular months.

Coquelin’s timing, it would appear, could not be any better right now.

Is Coquelin ready for a France call up?

Not only has he enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence with his club, he is now knocking on the door for his country as the days count down to a home European Championship in the summer of 2016.

There are, of course, no guarantees here, but the 24-year-old has already shown that he is a man capable of turning the most unlikely of sporting scripts into reality.

Hurdles aplenty will need to be overcome from this point if Coquelin is to write another exciting chapter in a blossoming career, but you get the feeling that the combative youngster is ready to run through any obstacles that get in his way.

Coquelin joined Arsenal in 2008 after catching the eye of Gunners scouts in an U-17 qualifier. Unfortunately for him, his career didn’t quite progress the way that other youngsters’ did at the Emirates, and he had loan spells at Freiburg and Lorient before being shipped off to Charlton. After being recalled, he’s taken his opportunities with both hands, surprising critics and fans alike with his performances.

He could not wish to be in a better place to push himself on, either. With Arsene Wenger carefully nurturing him through a Premier League existence, with Champions League competition thrown in for good measure, it must surely be only a matter of time before Didier Deschamps comes calling.

The France coach is hardly short of options in the middle of the park, with the likes of Paul Pogba, Morgan Schneiderlin and Blaise Matuidi – all much sought-after and world-class talents in their own right – providing just some of the competition.

Squad depth is, however, embraced by bosses around the world and now – with only friendly football to carry them through as hosts to Euro 2016 – is most certainly the time for Les Bleus to experiment and cast an eye over as many of the options available to them as possible. Coquelin also does his chances no harm with his versatility- he has the ability to play in the back four if required.

Their next outing comes on June 7th against neighbours Belgium and will be a contest – one which international football betting markets / punters will likely struggle to pick a winner from – that Coquelin will have his sights firmly set on. Belgium themselves boast of some real quality in midfield and upfront, with the likes of De Bruyne, Chadli, Fellaini and co. likely to oppose Coquelin if he gets a role to play.

A call-up has already been mooted, with his efforts in England duly noted across the Channel.

For now, though, such talk is based on little more than speculation, with Deschamps the man who will ultimately decide whether Coquelin is ready to take the next step up.

He should have no trouble if offered the opportunity, after all he has represented his country at numerous age levels up to U21 and is now only in need of one senior opportunity to complete the full set of caps (Coquelin has been capped by France at U17, U18, U19, U20 and 21 levels)

Ryan Mason has shown on the other side of north London at Tottenham Hotspur that rapid progress can be made down a similar path – with the Spurs man, who is also 23, taking the scenic route to becoming a fully-fledged England international.

The door has now been propped open for Coquelin to follow his lead, with determined and dogged displays for Arsenal ready to be offered the ultimate reward. It would complete a sensational turnaround in fortune for a player who must have wondered in which direction his career was heading as he prepared to pack his bags for Charlton.