by Lewis Ambrose
Over at City A.M. a fantastic graphic has emerged depicting each and every one of Arsène Wenger’s signings at Arsenal, and it proves for some interesting reading.
The interactive chart can take on a few different forms and I highly recommend having a look.
It includes the imminent signing of goalkeeper Petr Čech, who should sign for the Gunners next week at the age of 33.
This isn’t uncommon for Wenger. Since he arrived at Arsenal in 1996 the Frenchman has made five signings of players 32 or over and all but one have been goalkeepers. The odd man out is Sol Campbell, who joined for free in the midst of an injury crisis at the club.
The biggest success was undoubtedly Jens Lehmann, also signed at 33 years of age from Borussia Dortmund back in 2003. The goalkeeper was an ever-present member of the team which won the league unbeaten in his debut Premier League team, and played in all 47 matches he was at the club for during the 49 game unbeaten run.
The other two signings were Guillaume Warmuz who signed from Lens when 32 and Mart Poom, who was 33 like Lehmann and Čech joined from Sunderland.
It seems that, unlike players in other positions, Wenger isn’t averse to signing goalkeepers who are in their thirties.
Cost
The other notable thing about the Čech transfer is the price, rumoured to be £11M but listed as £11.5M by this graphic.
The Chelsea legend will be Wenger’s most expensive goalkeeper signing by a long way, with Richard Wright costing £7.9M from Ipswich Town at the age of 23. Wright was tipped for a big future but the goalkeeper, now at Manchester City but never actually on the pitch, didn’t live up to the expectation as David Seaman blocked his path to the first team.
This has debatably been a problem position for Arsenal for nearly a decade, with plenty of people never totally convinced by Wojciech Szczesny (though the Pole won the Golden Glove just 13 months ago).
Wenger has acted, and has spent relatively big to try and put an end to the issues Arsenal have had with men between the sticks.