Arsenal Must Let David Ospina Go

Arsenal have confined David Ospina to a comfy chair for the remainder of the season and one has to wonder why exactly they won’t let him leave the team.

Arsenal currently have arguably the best keeper in the world and that being the case, David Ospina is not going to be seeing much time. In fact, he is going to be seeing no time. After letting in some rather disappointing goals against Olympiakos back in September in the Champions League, it became clear that Arsenal could not risk life without their new Czech stopper.

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As such, rumors have been linking David Ospina to a move away from Arsenal, with Turkish side Besiktas as the most likely destination. There did not seem to be anything to hold this deal back, as Arsenal could use Matt Macey to fill the exact same chair that Ospina filled.

However, the Sun is reporting that Arsenal are blocking a move for their Colombian seat keeper. 

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Blocking a move away from the Emirates makes very little sense. Especially when considering that he could just as easily make it a loan move. Ospina is deserving of a first-team spot somewhere in the world and Arsenal is doing him a tremendous disservice by keeping him benched when options are available.

Ospina was a major part of what saved Arsenal last season. He stepped in for an ever-shaky Wojciech Szczesny after the new year debacle and went on to have one of the best saves-per-goal ratios in the world of football.

When summer rolled around, he was promptly replaced by someone that everyone knew he would not be able to unseat like he did Szczesny. In fact, rather than challenge Cech for his position, he lost his own back up seat to Cech, who is now Arsenal’s exclusive keeper.

I understand the logic behind keeping Ospina around. If Cech gets injured, we don’t want to be sitting around with nothing but Matt Macey to defend the net. But the likelihood of Cech getting injured is somewhere around zero. It’s not like Coquelin or Giroud who are out in the fray taking hits.

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Cech is going to start every game from now until the end of the season so why not let Ospina go out on loan? As the Sun mentions, he needs first team game time to keep his spot as Colombia’s No. 1 keeper for the 2018 World Cup.

I hate to say that Arsenal ‘owe’ any of their players anything, but I almost feel like they do owe Ospina something. Even the tiniest bit. He was something like a savior last year and in no time flat, he is now confined to watching Cech be amazing.

A loan move helps Ospina because when he comes back in the summer, he will be fit and fresh to start up the internal competition again.

Of course, when you think about it, a straight sale may be the better option, seeing as how he is never actually going to challenge Cech and if he waits, he will be around 33 by the time Cech retires. By that time, Emiliano Martinez or Matt Macey will have taken control.

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Whatever the case, Ospina should not be sitting on the bench straight through until the summer. That seems silly.