Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Arsenal have reportedly accepted a bid from Turkish club Fenerbahce in regards to goalkeeper David Ospina. According to Turkish news outlet fanatik – a fee of 3,5million Euro is believed to have been accepted from the North London club with a Ospina’s medical set to take place next week.
Should the medical go ahead as planned then it will bring an end to the three season stint that Ospina has had at The Emirates. After impressing in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Arsene Wenger landed the signature of the Colombian international from Nice with a fee believed to be £3m.
After 18 Premier League appearances in his debut Arsenal season Ospina has seen his minutes on this pitch severely curtailed in the past two seasons with just six top flight showings to his name, four in the 2015/16 season and just two in the campaign just ended.
With a much marginalised role since the arrival of Petr Cech from Chelsea it has meant that first team opportunities have primarily come in cup competitions only. Although he may have only made two league appearances this season he was an ever present in Arsenal’s Champions League campaign.
A campaign that once again ended all too abruptly at the hands of Bayern Munich after a 10-2 thumping aggregate in the Round of 16. Those performances were perhaps not the death knell of Ospina’s time at Arsenal but it did bring into question his role at the club.
Add to that an obvious desire to be playing on a much more regular basis and it was apparent that the man who was part of the Colombia squad who finished third in last years Copa America Centenario was going to have to look elsewhere for weekly first team football.
So here it is where Fenerbahce step in and offer him that opportunity, Fener finished third in the Turkish Super Lig last season although they were 13 points behind cross town rivals and winners Besiktas. That position means they have to make do with Europa League football although I guess Ospina would have to prepare for that competition anyway should he stayed with current employers.
