Arsenal Linked To Lloris

Arsenal have been linked with a move for Lyon’s Hugo Lloris after the French club’s president revealed that he is available this summer at the right price.

For Arsenal, goalkeeper could be a position of need this summer. With Manuel Almunia having already left the club and Lukasz Fabianski seemingly unhappy playing second fiddle to current no.1 Wojciech Szczesny, Arsene Wenger will probably be in the market for a goalkeeper this summer. The trouble with Lloris is that he is Lyon and France’s no.1 goalkeeper, so he probably wouldn’t be interested in a move to Arsenal unless he was guaranteed first-team football. Another thing that goes against this rumour is his age. Lloris is still young at the age of 25, as is Szczesny at 22. So signing Lloris would upset Szczesny for sure, having won his place in the team a couple of years ago now.

Although Lloris is a talented goalkeeper, it would be a bad situation to get into with Szczesny. The Pole made a few mistakes towards the end of last season and this continued in the European Championships, where he conceded a penalty against Greece in the opening game and also got sent off. He was suspended for Poland’s next game and the Polish backup goalkeeper kept his spot in the team for the final group game, where the co-hosts went crashing out.

I think what Szczesny needs is genuine competition. I think signing Lloris would certainly bring that, but I do think Lloris would make the position his own, which would be the end of Szczesny’s time at the club. Szczesny played well in the first year or so for two reasons. One being that he is a goalkeeper with a big future ahead of him and secondly because the position wasn’t his when he first came into the first-team. Every goalkeeper needs competition to keep themselves motivated. Fabianski and Almunia were his competition last season, so he knew that unless he got an injury, he’d be in the team. The right route to go down is to bring in an experienced backup goalie, that can compete with Szczesny and also pass on his knowledge and experience. I feel that he would genuinely benefit from this.

If you cast your mind back to the summer of 2010, Arsenal were very close to signing Mark Schwarzer from Fulham. This is the sort of deal I am talking about here. I wouldn’t sign Schwarzer now as he is 39, but someone who is coming towards the end of their career, but can still do a job when needed and bring some much needed experience to the club at the position. If Arsenal had signed Schwarzer a couple of years ago, he would have been number 1 for at least the 2010/11 season, but may have lost his place this last season. Even if he hadn’t, Szczesny would have been given the no.1 spot when Schwarzer retired and the Australian would have probably received a job as a goalkeeping coach upon retirement.

So even though Lloris would be a good signing, I think an experienced backup is needed to compete with Szczesny, rather than somebody his age. In the long term, I believe Arsenal and Szczesny himself would benefit from an experienced goalkeeper joining the club this summer. All I know is, if Fabianski leaves too, Arsenal will definitely need to add at least one goalkeeper and then promote another to third choice. Mannone will never make it at Arsenal, he isn’t good enough. Damian Martinez on the other hand is highly rated at the club and could well be promoted to third choice this summer in either situation. If Fabianski leaves, Arsenal should buy an experienced backup and give Martinez the no.3 role. If Fabianski stays, Mannone won’t be our no.3, I believe Martinez will. There is also a possibility that Wenger wouldn’t sign an experienced goalie in scenario 1, which would give Martinez a chance in the team should Szczesny get injured or suspended.

The final thing that goes against the rumour is that the Lyon president said it would take a big offer to persuade the French giants to sell Lloris. Can you honestly see Wenger signing Lloris for big money in a position that really isn’t of great need? (at least not the no.1 spot anyway!).