Arsenal have seen a bid for Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer rejected and the Gunners could now switch their focus to Handanovic as an alternative, with the player seen as a long-term option for the club as he is only 25-years-old.
I hadn't heard about the Schwarzer bid being rejected, but it makes sense. Fulham are reliant on Schwarzer and they won't want to let him go, even if £3.5million is good money to get for a keeper.As for Handanovic... well, I'm not so sure about that. For one, do you want a keeper with "hand" in his name? The bad puns are already being written.
More importantly, I don't think I'll ever be able to get the image of him ducking out of the way of Landon Donovan's goal in the Slovenia/USA group play match. He came across as an intimidated keeper who reacted (poorly sometimes) to things around him rather then "bossing his area" as the cliche goes.
I think there were other keepers who distinguished themselves in South Africa. Certainly Eduardo, with one goal allowed in four matches, comes to mind. But he just signed for Genoa --who finished mid-table in Serie A last season and out of the European places! Is this another case where Wenger was too slow in pulling the trigger for a keeper? I think he should have signed Begovic last January but instead Stoke signed him for £3.25million. And now Eduardo goes to Genoa for just £4million?
What about Diego Benaglio of Wolfsburg and Switzerland? He won the Bundesliga in 08/09, but the vultures are circling over Wolfsburg's better players like Edin Dzeko (to Manchester City?). Would the club like to double their £2million investment in Benaglio?
Are there other good, young keepers that you think Wenger should buy? Sound off in the comments.
Video of the Slovenia/USA goals after the jump.
You're right about the Handanovic thing. He did the same thing against England when he escaped contact with Defoe's shot, that was aimed right to the middle of the goal. It will be a bad deal if he's brought.
ReplyDeleteI'm also quite happey about the rejection of the Schwarzer deal. I think signing a keeper should be with a look for the future. It's better to sign someone who will be able to stay for at least 6-7 years than to sign a player like Schwarzer, who will probably retire in a couple of years and then Wenger will have to waste money on a keeper again (assuming it will still be him by then).
Benaglio is a great keeper and will be a great buy, but not if he's too expensive. Wenger should still try to save money for another defender, so he shouldn't go crazy with 15mil keeper or something. If Wolfsburg ask too much he should consider another keeper, maybe even a short term one (okay, so maybe Schwarzer after all) if he plans to use Szczesny as a first team keeper in the future.
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Man City have both Given and Joe Hart under contract. I think they're both better than anything else out there. Arsenal should buy whichever one isn't going to be Mancini's number one.
ReplyDeleteI know Hart is Neal's choice.
ReplyDeleteIt would indeed be a damn shame if Hart (I presume) went from being one of the best keepers in the league last season to a bench warmer this time around. And I too will never forget Handanovic's epic flinch, though I can't say I blame him really.
ReplyDeletemy first choice is akinfeev, in hearing some of his russian teammates, they say that he gives up an occasional goal, but he is solid for crosses, which is huge in england. he is a tremendous shopstopper. when i watched russia he definitely had command of his area, he was constantly communicating with his defense. domestically, CSKA Moscow had a great defense with him at the heart. he is the best in the league, which isn't saying much, and he might keep arshavin's mouth shut. he also has lots of champions league experience and 25 years old.
ReplyDeletemartin steklenberg is now the frontrunner for manure's choice, so why not pip ferguson to him. the dutch prefer to play with arsenal, anyway. steklenberg is still learning, so who knows if he will be the commanding presence that arsenal's needs this year. for me steklenberg, partly due to the history of dutch keepers, has a lot of potential and should be great.
lloris is the new chic trendy pick, but i am less confident with him. wenger's track record with signings from french league, is astonishing. i just keep running over in my head, that he would be the NEW FABIEN BARTHEZ. french goalies aren't that well known. he is a low key player and that, might be my only issue.
manuel neuer is an icredible choice, too. he is part of young german revolution that caught everyone by storm. he is confident and silky. he, to me, has the best upside, and i could see him be the best goalie in a few years time. i think that if wenger doesn't get akinfeev, that neuer should be it. he has world cup experience, europe experience and has been great for shalke. his spacing is great too.
joe hart was phenomenal, last year, but doesn't have any more experience than the other choices, especially internationally, domestically, and most importantly in europe. i never saw him let in a bad goal, which was a once a week thing for arsenal, for a while.
I didn't see anything from Lloris in either the Champions League or World Cup to make me think he's worth the hype. Happy to be proven wrong though.
ReplyDeleteHaha, this is funny, I wouldn't want a keeper with "hand" in his name at all!
ReplyDeleteI know it doesn't seem like big news (and it is probably isn't), but several Israeli websites report that Dekel Keinan, a 26-years-old centre back, has signed for Blackpool. I know him as I'm a fan of Maccabi Haifa, his current club in Israel, and I know him well. He's very good at tackling and always scores 4-5 goals each season, because he has good headers. If he starts regularly for Blackpool I think he would be worth it against relatively weak oppositions.
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