Arsenal lining up Cech replacement?
Although transfer rumours should be kept to a minimum with the next window so far away, I cannot help but notice the talking point behind today’s story. The Gunners are being linked with a move for a young goalkeeper to reportedly replace Petr Cech, when the Gunners star decides to call it a day.
Cech has been a great asset to Arsenal in my opinion and I think he may be one of Wenger’s smartest buys for the price that we paid Chelsea. However given that age isn’t on Cech’s side and that he is in the latter end of his career, there is no doubt that the Gunners are keeping their eyes peeled for potential candidate to replace Cech between the sticks.
As a goalkeeper of course Cech may remain playing at the top level for many years to come. Goalkeepers have been seen to play in the Premier League regularly into the late thirties and so Cech still has a few more years to go. However perhaps this is why Wenger and co are reportedly looking at the idea of signing a young keeper for the future, rather than stick with the idea of seeing Wojciech Szczesny return one day, and we also have Martinez, Macey, Iliev, Kato and the newboy Joao Virginia who was just given his first professional contract last week.
According to today’s reports, Arsenal are being linked with young Toulouse goalkeeper Alban Lafont. The 17 year old has shone for his club side and as a result he is picking up plenty of interest from across Europe. The youngster currently has a contract with the Ligue One side until 2020.
I personally haven’t heard of Lafont but apparently France are very keen on the 17 year old and regard him to be a promising star of the future. He is highly rated by his club and he is the youngest keeper to ever play in Ligue One. Despite only having recently signed professional terms, Arsenal are reportedly joined in the hunt for the youngster by Italian side Juventus, who will also be looking for a new keeper with Buffon’s retirement surely not far away.
Like I said I personally haven’t heard of Lafont and so I’m not going to pass judgement based on a few YouTube clips. However without seeing the player for real, I think I would still prefer for Arsenal to look no further than Stoke City’s Jack Butland as the next potential Arsenal number one. For me Butland is one of the best in the league despite still being very young and not having the strongest of defences in front of him. He’s also unlucky not to be displacing England regular Joe Hart, but I don’t think it will be too long before Butland makes the step up. I think that this is the player Arsenal should target to replace Cech and if the Gunners don’t decide to pursue him, I’m sure another big European side won’t be too far away.
Should Arsenal be looking for a new keeper already?
By AH