3 – David Ospina
There is very little to say about David Ospina. Although a few bloggers believe he was brought in as Arsenal’s new no.1, I can’t see Szczęsny losing his place anytime soon. I personally think Ospina will just be given a few games between the sticks to justify his move to the Emirates and nothing more.
However, that doesn’t make the 25-year-old a bad signing. David was treasured at his previous club – the fantastic OGC Nice – and he seems like a really nice guy. In many ways, a club’s back-up keeper has more of an effect off the pitch than on it, and I am sure David’s attitude and ability will help push Szczęsny to the max.
If Wojciech ever gets injured or needs a rest, I’d be very confident seeing Ospina covering for him. The Columbian is an outstanding shot stopper, and he stays focused from the first-to-last-minute of a match. Whether or not he will actually be able to dethrone Szczęsny from his first team responsibilities is up for debate, but it doesn’t matter either way to Arsenal fans. No matter what happens, we’ll have at least one keeper capable of protecting our goal for the duration of our title challenge.
Although Ospina isn’t as exciting as the other names on this list, he is pretty much the best goalkeeper we could have signed this summer. Perhaps the only criticism you could make is that he doesn’t count as a homegrown player, which would have been an added bonus to help us meet the Premier League squad requirements.
9/10