Arsenal officially announced that they had agreed a deal to sign Nice goalkeeper David Ospina earlier today; this piece analyses why they now don’t need Real Madrid keeper íker Casillas.
It will be interesting to see how Arséne Wenger & co deal with Ospina’s position in the team, as current first-team goalkeeper Szczesny has impressed and improved his game in the last season, where he was previously inconsistent and lacking experience in between the sticks.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas was heavily linked with a move to London in the past, and based on his current situation it seems that he will not be with the Champions League winners much longer as he is regularly on the substitutes’ bench for Diego Lopez.
However, after Ospina’s arrival it seems that Arsenal are no longer interested in Casillas’ services for the future – an experienced goalkeeper with a lot of accolades on his profile is sure to attract attention from some European clubs, and despite the fact that he is a solid goalkeeper, he did not exactly show that in the World Cup with Spain.
Quite frankly, he was poor and looked like he was not comfortable at all being on the pitch in the spotlight, which is a shadow of the Casillas that everyone is used to seeing, where he proved himself to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world. You cannot blame him alone for his poor form though, having been knocked from the top of the game to get back up is not easy, especially when you are frozen out of the squad and your confidence is low.
Where will Casillas go? It’s hard to say at this point in time, but if he wants to play regular first-team football, he must leave Real Madrid and soon. At age 33, he isn’t getting any younger…