We are nearly halfway through the transfer window and transfer rumors are starting to gather pace. In this post, I will be looking at a player who has been linked to Arsenal all window and it finally looks like he will be moving to the red side of North London.
Who is he?
David Ospina is a goalkeeper who plays for Nice in France's Ligue 1. He also plays internationally for Columbia and started all 5 of their games at this years World Cup. Ospina started his career in his home country of Columbia with Atletico Nacional. He played 97 games for them between 2005-2008, after becoming their starting goalkeeper aged only 17. In 2008 he moved to Nice for around €2 million. In six years he has made 177 appearances for the French side. He has made over 40 caps for the Columbian national team, and stood out during this years World Cup.
Why is he an important signing?
Ospina is an important signing for many reasons, mainly because he provides back up for Arsenal's first choice keeper, Szczesny. At the moment Arsenal only have one recognized keeper and if he were to get injured Arsenal would be in big trouble. Ospina partly sorts out that problem, by providing back up. Ospina may not just be a back up goalie though. According to Sqawka's performance scoring system, Ospina had a performance score of 812 last season, better than every Premier League goalkeeper bar Szczesny, who had a performance score of 844. Ospina was in great form for Nice and if he continues that with Arsenal he will definitely challenge for the No.1 spot. Statistically, Ospina is better than Szczesny, averagely he concedes less goals per match and makes more saves, but Szczesny had more clean sheets last season. Ospina would bring in squad depth in that position and challenge for the No.1 spot, which might drive Szczesny to do even better, like we saw with Ramsey after the arrival of Özil. It will also spot the goalkeeper playing being complacent because they will want to keep their place in the team, therefore they will work hard when they are in the team. Joe Hart became complacent at Manchester City last season because there was no opposition in the team who are on the same level as him, therefore he thought he was always guaranteed a starting place.
Any drawbacks?
The only major drawback is that one of them (Szczesny and Ospina) will have to sit on the bench for a part of the season and that may make the player sitting on the bench feel unwanted and they will eventually leave, look at Fabianski and Mannone for examples.
Article contributed by: Luke Blackstock
Twitter: @LukeZB99
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