Arsenal are currently on course for consecutive seasons outside the Premier League’s top four, and are firmly expected to continue to rebuild their squad this summer in order to end that sequence.
The Gunners have fallen to 12 points behind Liverpool in the fourth and final CL place with only eight matches remaining, and the likelihood is that even winning their remaining matches would see them miss out, and we now have to put all our eggs into the Europa League basket in hopes of qualifying for Europe’s elite competition.
Manchester United managed to finish sixth in the Premier League last term, but qualified through winning the EL, and we would have to be happy to do the same, although our opponents on paper look much the more difficult to pass with Spanish giants and recent Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid favourites to win the competition.
We are now believed to be eyeing a move to take said favourites Atletico’s goalkeeper off their hands, with Jan Oblak available for £88 Million due to a release clause in his contract, with Liverpool also tipped as interested.
Petr Cech and David Ospina have both failed to live up to the ‘World Class’ tag bestowed upon them by manager Arsene Wenger this term, and a new shotstopper is believed to be high on our wishlist come the summer, and stopping him from joining Liverpool could be equally as important.
The Reds have been astonishing up front this season, with their defence and goalkeeping costing their side a number of points, and letting Oblak join them could be costly as we look to battle our way back into the top four.
Would Oblak as our number one give us a huge lift in our bid to return to the top four, and in future maybe even back challenging for top spot?
Pat J