Arsenal: Odd David Ospina exit must be accounted for

Arsenal have offloaded David Ospina to Fenerbahce, which isn’t necessarily surprising in and of itself, but the circumstances are surprising.

I don’t think I will ever again see an Arsenal keeper as odd as David Ospina. He was capable of looking like the most underrated keeper in the world and he was also capable of looking like a fan who won a sweepstakes to play keeper for the day.

He was an enigma. Against Chelsea in the FA Cup final, we saw that more than ever. Numerous class saves, then arguably the easiest shot of the day goes in.

There was just no rhyme or rhythm to his decision making or his tendencies.

As such, he has reportedly been offloaded to Turkish club Fenerbahce for all of £3m. There is nothing surprising about Ospina leaving. He wanted to be a first-team keeper and he wasn’t going to find that at Arsenal. But there are a couple of things about this move that need to be accounted for.

First of all, £3m? Believe it or not, Ospina is one of the best shot-stoppers in the entire world. The statistics indicate that he may well have been incredibly underrated. As such, that transfer fee is odd and, quite frankly, inexplicable. Especially as Chelsea have sold Asmir Begovic to Bournemouth for £10m.

Try to tell me that Begovic is worth over three times what Ospina is. I dare you.

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Ospina is the No. 1 keeper for Colombia, a perennial international contender. He is 28 years old (younger than Begovic…), which in keeper years, is like an adolescent. There was no need to settle. It feels like a “oh we have an offer, just accept it” kind of thing.

Then there is the matter of Wojciech Szczesny. Apparently Juventus are lining up the Pole to be their heir to Buffon. While the move itself infuriates me, as I believe Szczesny should be given his fair shot at the No. 1 job at Arsenal, that is not what we are here to discuss.

Is Wenger really going to sell both of his back-up keepers in one transfer window for prices that have to lead to a series of questioning?

There is still time for the Szczesny deal to either be proven fake or fall through, but it seems a bit un-Wenger like to sell both back-up keepers in one fell swoop.

That is, unless he is that confident in Emi Martinez which, honestly, given what we saw, wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

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Still, for a paltry transfer fee and the possibility of more exits, Ospina’s exit has made it’s way onto the odd list.

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