Arsenal: David Ospina loan utterly nonsensical

David Ospina has reportedly agreed to personal terms with Besiktas. However, Arsenal are rejecting the loan approach of the Turkish club. They are right to do so. It is utterly nonsensical.

While the transfer deadline may have passed in England, that does not mean that sales cannot be completed abroad. The deadline for many of the European clubs is not until the traditional end of August and they have every right to pursue and sign players from English clubs. For Arsenal, then, who are looking to sell, this is something that they could take advantage of.

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The most immediate name that jumps to mind is David Ospina. The £20 million arrival of Bernd Leno. The experience of Petr Cech. The young potential of Emiliano Martinez. There isn’t really any need or space for Ospina. A sale seems inevitable. It has done for some time.

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The club in prime position to sign Ospina is Besiktas. Discussions have been ongoing throughout the summer and Ospina has reportedly agreed to personal terms with the club. The only sticking point now is Besiktas and Arsenal thrashing out a deal that they are both happy with. There are conflicting reports on how smoothly this process is going, and what the two clubs want respectively out of the agreement.

On the one hand, some reports claim that the two have agreed on a season-long loan deal. On the other, there are suggestions that the Gunners are unwilling to allow Ospina to leave on a temporary basis and are insistent that any deal that is done is a permanent sale. I have no clue which is true and which isn’t. I am writing this piece on Friday morning. By the time you’re reading it, the whole landscape could have changed.

But while I do not know what will happen, what news is accurate and how to wade through these murky, ambiguous waters, I can say with great certainty that a loan deal makes almost no sense whatsoever.

This is the last summer that Arsenal will be able to recoup any semblance of value for Ospina. He has just two years remaining on his contract, meaning that any price will be driven down drastically by potential buyers next summer — and he is almost definitely not going to sign a new one — he turns 30 years old at the end of August, and his wages, £40,000-a-week, are steep for some lesser clubs to afford, which only become more of a problem as he ages and his contract shortens — his agent will see a shorter contract and a smaller fee as an opportunity to demand a higher wage packet, signing-on-fee, bonuses etc.

Moreover, in loan deals, there is no guarantee that the buyers pay 100% of the wages. Usually they do. But in this case, such is the desperation of Arsenal to get rid, Besiktas may play hard-ball and demand that they only pay a portion of the wages, knowing that they hold all of the power in the negotiations. A sale does not generate the same issues. Although the price may be diminished a little, the wages will not be a problem.

Unai Emery has decided that he does not want Ospina at the club. That much is clear. Once that decision has been made, therefore, it is almost always better to sell, not loan.