Arsenal: David Ospina loan sensible for all

David Ospina has joined Napoli on loan with an option to buy next summer. The Arsenal goalkeeper’s departure is sensible for all parties involved.

Although the English transfer window shut on Thursday prior to the start of the new season with clubs voting in a new rule to shift the deadline earlier from its previous position of the end of August, the European market is still open, and will be until the old deadline of the end of August.

Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast right here

That means that any sales to clubs in Europe are still possible over the next two weeks or so. For Arsenal, that is a huge benefit. Although they will be wary of losing any players that they are now unable to replace with the market shut, this is a squad with a lot of deadwood, at a number of positions, that is wasting away at the club’s resources.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

And it seems as though Sven Mislintat and Unai Emery are not wasting any time in ridding of the wage-leeching players that will not be used this season. As has been expected all summer, David Ospina, after being usurped by new signing Bernd Leno, has now exited the Emirates, signing for Napoli on a year-long loan with an option to buy next summer. It is a sensible transfer for all involved.

From Napoli’s perspective, they have been clambering for a new goalkeeper all summer after Alex Meret, their starting shot-stopper, broke his arm in training last month, and have been linked with a plethora of middling European goalkeepers to replace him, including Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet. They now have their man in Ospina, a capable and experienced, if a little flawed, goalkeeper at the highest level in Europe.

For Ospina, this is a chance to start for a team that will be playing in the Champions League and challenging for the Serie A title as they did last season. He will have to fight to hold onto his starting role, but he will at least open the season as the undisputed number one.

And finally, for Arsenal, this is a move that simply had to be made. Ospina is an extremely expensive goalkeeper to have sitting in the reserves, Emiliano Martinez is a perfectly capable third-choice goalkeeper, backing up Leno and Petr Cech, and with just two years remaining on the Colombian’s contract, it was time to try and recoup some value on him.

I would have preferred this to be a permanent sale. And I’m convinced that Arsenal agree. But if this was the best deal that they received for Ospina, then it makes complete sense, especially if there is a decent fee agreed on the option-to-buy clause next summer.

This is just a sensible move. It will not garner much attention. It is not especially high profile or shocking or headline grabbing. It is just a smart, sound transfer for everyone involved.