The goodwill around signing a world class player for Arsenal is enormous. The feeling around the team as well as the supporters gets a face lift. It generally translates into points even before the action begins. This is probably one of the reasons why supporters want their club to go for marquee signings. The Gooners are no exception and that explains the discussion on big names.
But, there is a catch to this whole situation. A big player’s arrival or anticipated arrival is welcomed with ambiguity on the status of the incumbent. Long story short – the impending arrival of Petr Cech has cast a shadow on the position of David Ospina.
The Colombia national goalkeeper is by no means a bad keeper. In fact, far from it; ever since his strong showing in the World cup, Ospina has moved from strength to strength. People attribute Colombia’s success in Brazil to James Rodriguez’ goals but equal credit should go to Ospina’s performances between the sticks.
And then he proved his worth at Arsenal with a strong showing through the season. Ever since he replaced Wojciech Szczesny, Ospina made the position his own. After a long time it looked like the Gunners had a keeper to rely upon game after game.
The pursuit of Cech changed the entire scenario. Wenger wants to improve options at every position that can help the team challenge for trophies and there is no doubt that Cech is an option that can lift Arsenal to even greater heights, but there is the nagging feeling that Ospina could also be a world-beater.
Now that the deal for Cech is close to completion, it remains to be seen how Ospina will react to the situation. It is reported many times that he is ready to take up new challenges and wouldn’t want to be second choice keeper. Various reports linked him with Fenerbahce.
Whether he wanted to prove himself to Wenger or improve his worth in the shopping window, Ospina showed his best skills once more in the Copa America. Especially in the quarter-final against Argentina where he kept the Argentine super stars Aguero and Messi at bay.
Ospina made several other vital stops too, to stretch the favorites to penalties. But even his best showing couldn’t stop Colombia from crashing out. This however proved that Ospina could be a great option for any club.
It remains to be seen if his future is at the Emirates or any other club. As things stand today, it seems more likely to be away than at North London, which just seems to be very unfair to me…
Sridhar