Arsenal: Wojciech Szczesny deal bemusing yet enlightening

According to Sky Italia, Arsenal and Juventus have agreed upon a £14m deal that would send Wojciech Szczesny to Turin where he would be the successor to legend Gianluigi Buffon.

I find this deal a little bemusing. Arsene Wenger has stated that goalkeeper is the one area where Arsenal would not be making any additions. Furthermore, David Ospina seems intent on leaving in search of regular first-team football.

While his future at the Emirates has been a topic of debate in recent months, it seemed that with his promising performances on loan at Roma, Wojciech Szczesny would come back and compete with Petr Cech for the goalkeeper jersey.

Cech was not at his best for parts of last season, however, his performances improved dramatically towards the end. Perhaps that was enough to convince Arsene Wenger that the Czech international has a few good years left.

While nothing is confirmed as of yet, there are a few reasons as to why this deal has possibly come to fruition. Szczesny either didn’t receive any assurances or, Arsenal were simply not prepared to offer him new terms, after all, his contract is up after next season.

Szczesny would be going from a backup in London, to a backup in Turin. The only difference being that Buffon is 39 years old whereas Cech is only 35, meaning that theoretically, Szczesny’s wait for first team action would be less. If it was evident that no new contract was going to be agreed then I can understand this deal, however, I always assumed that Szczesny would return and be a vital figure for Arsenal.

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If true, one thing that this deal really emphasises is that Wenger is a big fan of Emi Martinez. While no competitor is happy sitting on the bench, I’m sure that Martinez would be happy playing second fiddle to Cech in the short-term, with the knowledge that he was likely to be his long-term successor.

Martinez has time on his side – he turns 25 in September – and would play plenty of domestic and European cup games before succeeding Cech.

Wenger spoke highly of Martinez when the Argentinian signed a new contract last year, and it is obvious we didn’t take enough notice of that deal.

It might be time for us to wrap our heads around the fact that despite his talent, Wojciech Szczesny may not be long for Arsenal. It seems that Emi Martinez is the future.

Next: Arsenal's complete 2016/17 player ratings

If Juventus deem Szczesny good enough to replace a legend, surely he would have been good enough for Arsenal?

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