Arsenal must now sign a new goalkeeper
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger today confirmed the signing of French defender Sebastien Squillaci from Sevilla.
The 30-year old finally signed after Sevilla said on Sunday night he would be coming to the Emirates for a medical. Many were beginning to think he had disappeared off the face of the earth, but at last the deal is done.
It was beginning to look like Arsenal would participating in more competitions than they had centre-backs, but the arrival of Squillaci now gives Arsenal four defenders, with the Frenchman joining up with Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou.
Alex Song may also be added to that quartet. While Song ideally needs to play in his strongest position in the anchor role in midfield he is also a very accomplished defender, as he showed in the weekend’s 6-0 win over Blackpool.
The hunt for another defender should now be over, and although there have been links with the likes of Michaël Ciani of Bordeaux and Juan of Roma, the priority will surely now be on bringing in a new goalkeeper rather than another centre-back.
Current goalkeepers Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski have shown they are not up to the task, with both making high-profile errors over the past few seasons, while third and fourth-choices Vito Mannone and Wojciech Szczesny may be deemed too young to fill the role.
Everyone else seems to believe that Arsenal need a new shot-stopper, but does Wenger?
Almunia has started the season in goal and played the first two games, but there could be the possibility that he will leave should Wenger bring in a new No.1. The time has come for a world-class goalkeeper to be signed. Not since the days of David Seaman have Arsenal had a great ‘keeper. Jens Lehmann was decent, but the German came with many flaws. Alex Manninger, Richard Wright- who cost £6million unbelievably- Stuart Taylor and Rami Shaaban have tried and all failed. For all of his wisdom and ability to unearth young talent, finding a keeper does seem to be Wenger’s weakness.
There are several candidates for the jersey. One of them is Fulham ‘keeper Mark Schwarzer. Two bids have already been made for the Australia No.1, and both of them have been turned down. He has handed in a transfer request and reiterated his desire to play in the Champions League, but the move seems like it won’t go ahead as Fulham will not budge.
Shay Given of Manchester City is another player who could easily come to the Emirates. Having lost his place to Joe Hart in goal for City, he has said he is not willing to sit on the bench at Eastlands. One problem has already been identified by Wenger, who says a move will not happen because of the high wages City players are on.
Maarten Stekelenburg of Ajax is also a potential target. He was part of Ajax’s triumph over Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League qualifiers last night. However, a move for him is almost certainly out of the question, as he will be cup-tied for Europe, so if Wenger were to bring him in for around £7million, it would seem useless.
Federico Marchetti, one of Italy’s World Cup ‘keepers, is also on the radar, and he has been made available by his club Cagliari as he was transfer-listed a few months ago.
As ever Wenger is keeping quiet on the keeper situation, today saying: “We are where we are - we have four great keepers and it is important we give confidence to them for the next game. I do not rule it out, but at the moment I say I am not in a position to sign anybody. At the moment, it is all dead.”
Manchester United have Edwin van der Sar, Chelsea have Petr Cech, Liverpool have Pepe Reina and Man City have Joe Hart. All are fantastic ‘keepers and will win their teams a huge amount of points.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, their ‘keepers will lose them points.
And when it comes to the big trophies they play for keeps.
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