There has been much made of whether or not Arsenal should go into the market this Summer for a new Goalkeeper, Thierry Henry has fueled this topic of conversation when he was asked to comment by his new employer.
He told Sky Sports: “If you take the goalkeepers, for example, at Bayern Munch, Chelsea, Manchester United and a lot of other teams.
“You need that type of player, you need that competitiveness within the group and you need great players.
“In order to win the league that has to happen.”
Arsenal have not won the English championship since 2004, when German stopper Jens Lehmann conceded just 26 league goals across the season.
The links involving moves for Chelsea’s want-away goalkeeper Petr Cech and Real Madrid’s Iker Casillas give the impression that Wenger and Arsenal maybe seriously considering doing some business this Summer.
Jose Mourinho is never one to strengthen a rival but as he has said numerous times he sees Cech as a “special” case, The Czech shot stopper can still perform at the highest level and it is believed that he has a desire to remain in London. The experienced Chelsea keeper has been used sparingly by Mourinho this campaign but has kept 5 clean sheets in his 6 League appearances conceding only the once.
Spanish international Iker Casillas is also an intriguing possibility and quite a surprising one, under Mourinho he figured very occasionally but this season under Carlo Ancelotti he has played 29 games in La Liga performing much better than expected and keeping 12 clean sheets.
Only last week there were rumours of Madrid looking to cash in on the 33 year old with rumours of a bid for Manchester United’s David De Gea heating up.
David Ospina has been nothing short of a revelation in his first season in the Emirates, the Colombian has the best games to goals conceded ratio in the League and rivals many in World football but there are still a number of fans and media pundits that still remain unconvinced.
In just 13 Premier League game this season Ospina has excelled between the posts keeping 7 clean sheets and conceding only 7 goals. That includes a fine performance at home to the soon to be League champions Chelsea.
If anyone is to make way it would be Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny who’s future would appear in the balance, subjected to playing in the “lesser” cup games, he didn’t exactly impress last time out in the FA Cup semi final extra time victory against Reading at Wembley last month.
Szczesny has not featured in the Premier league since the 2-0 loss away at Southampton which appeared to be a significant turning point in the Pole’s future and the moment where Ospina grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
Arsenal’s former No.1 has featured 17 times in the Premier League keeping only 3 clean sheets and conceding 21 times.
In short it would be a mistake for Arsenal not to take the opportunity of signing Cech or Casillas just for their experience alone. Szczesny has become a liability and his confidence looks like it has completely vanished.
Competition for places is at a good level now within the squad apart from the goalkeeping situation at the club, signing one of these two world class individuals would only improve Arsenal’s chances of being serious title contenders next season.
