Should Arsenal let Ospina go?
One player that is looking increasingly unlikely to not be at the Emirates next season, is Goalkeeper David Ospina.
If reports from the Turkish media are deemed to be true then Arsenal’s back up goalkeeper David Ospina, is subject to a £2.7 million bid from Besiktas. Ospina is rumoured to be unhappy with his current role in the Arsenal team, playing back up to Petr Cech. Therefore Ospina is considering his future at the club after two years in North London and may be looking at a move away from Arsenal, in order to find regular playing time during the peak years of his career.
Ospina has a difficult to decision to make because he must surely be aware that he is not going to displace Arsenal’s number one, Petr Cech, any time soon. In which case, is Ospina happy to play back up and wait for his chance or should he look at securing first team football elsewhere?
The other thing that Ospina needs to consider is the future of Wojciech Szczesny. Szczesny in my opinion is more likely to be kept on at Arsenal than Ospina, purely because I think Wenger still believes in the Polish international. Not to say that Wenger does not rate Ospina, I think everyone agrees that Ospina can be a fantastic keeper on his day (despite being prone to few errors on corners and catching), but with Wojciech, he is a true Gunner at heart and still has the potential to learn and grow under Cech, to develop into an outstanding keeper.
If I had to choose who I had more faith in being Arsenal’s keeper after Cech steps down in a few years time, assuming that no other keepers came in, I’d have to choose Szczesny. This is because although he has his off the field controversies, Szczesny does still have the ability to become one of the best in the league, whilst I feel Ospina has already peaked at his maximum potential. A few seasons back he shared the golden glove award with Petr Cech in the league and has been known to be a great asset in Arsenal’s final line of defence.
If Arsene Wenger therefore decides to allow Ospina to leave the club this summer, then of course we must start thinking about whether Szczesny will return to Arsenal, rather than go out on loan again. Or will Wenger instead look elsewhere at signing another keeper? I think if I could have my wish, it would have to be Stoke’s Jack Butland, who would learn a lot under Cech for one or two years before finally taking over the reigns himself, for what looks to be a long and promising career.
What will Arsenal and Ospina choose to do this summer? Will he stay or will he go?
By AH