Jan Oblak will make a decision on his future before the World Cup, with Arsenal still interested in landing the keeper this summer.

Latest

The Atletico Madrid keeper is very much in demand and his refusal to sign a new contract in Spain has a number of clubs eager to make themselves his preferred destination. Arsenal will need more luck than you find over at free-spins.co.nz if they are to land him.

“My future will be decided before I  go to Russia,” Oblak said recently as Atleti continue to push for a new deal. The La Liga outfit not only want to secure his future, they want to increase his release fee before the middle of June.

Oblak will not be in Russia as Slovenia did not qualify. At present, he would cost around €100m which seems more than a little rich for Arsene Wenger’s tastes.

Speaking during the last international break, Oblak told Slovenian outlet, Ekipa, “It’s tough to discuss the future.

“It’s not easy to talk about what’s going to happen tomorrow never mind what will happen next season. But I am calm and the situation depends on Atletico – nobody knows the future.

“There’s nothing new, there have been a lot of things said and written about a new contract. The only confirmed situation is that there is nothing new. I have a contract that I signed two years ago, but now I must wait to see what Atleti’s plan is.”

According to the Catalan newspaper Sport last month, Raul Sanllehi is trying to bring Oblak to the Emirates this summer.

He is currently under contract until 2021.

Arsenal need to find a new goalkeeper for the number one position this summer, so who are the options to replace Petr Čech?

by Dan Critclow

After his penalty save against Watford, Čech was temporarily back in the fans’ good books. Still, that doesn’t change the fact he currently leads Europe’s top 5 leagues for errors directly leading to goals.

Whether you like the 35-year-old or not, reports suggest that goalkeeper is one of four positions Sven Mislintat wants to strengthen this summer, as we covered here.

Here are seven options for the new head of recruitment to try and bring in this summer:

Ter Stegen

• Current club: FC Barcelona
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2022
• Estimated value: £36m

The Spanish media linked Arsenal to Ter Stegen late last year, claiming the club made an approach for the Barcelona shot stopper. He’s one of the top performing goalkeepers around at the moment, making more than five saves for every goal he concedes.

With him in goal, Barcelona have an even better defensive record than Atletico Madrid in La Liga, which is quite some achievement in the Diego Simeone era.

The German is also becoming a regular in his country’s national side. He’s started eight of their last 10 matches despite strong competition.

Unfortunately, the catch is that Ter Stegen’s good performances make Barcelona unlikely to want to let him go. He reportedly has a £158m release clause, but I can’t imagine Arsenal paying that much for a goalkeeper.

If he does decide he wants a move to the Premier League though, he would make a great buy.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 23 in 38 matches (one every 1.65 matches)
• Saves per goal (La Liga): 5.15
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 83%

Jan Oblak

• Current club: Atletico Madrid
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £63m

According to the Catalan newspaper Sport, Raul Sanllehi is trying to bring Oblak to the Emirates. The Slovenian goalkeeper has tons of experience at the top level, and is very highly rated.

As a result, it could be difficult to lure him away from his current club, particularly if they qualify for the Champions League and Arsenal don’t.

His statistics are slightly unbalanced by the fact that Atletico are so good defensively.

They base their game around solidity at the back, making it much more difficult for opponents to get good quality opportunities to test Oblak.

Nonetheless, as you can see from the stats, the 25-year-old doesn’t disappoint when called upon.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 22 in 36 matches (one every 1.64 matches)
• Saves per goal (La Liga): 4.93
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 54%

Bernd Leno

• Current club: Bayer Leverkusen
• Age: 26
• Contract until: 2020
• Estimated value: £14m

In recent weeks Leno has become the latest goalkeeper to be touted as Čech’s replacement.

The German travelled with his country to win the Confederations Cup this summer, although he only appeared once.

One of his biggest strengths is his distribution, something Arsenal goalkeepers have had a lot of trouble with lately.

For example, in the League Cup final David Ospina couldn’t even find a teammate with half of his passes. Meanwhile Bravo completed over two-thirds of his, and Manchester City saw the benefits of that.

Right now Arsenal’s keepers aren’t saving or distributing well enough, so they’re costing the team twice over.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 10 in 31 matches (one every 3.10 matches)
• Saves per goal (Bundesliga): 1.20
• Errors leading to goals: 2
• Distribution accuracy: 70%

Alisson

• Current club: AS Roma
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £14.4m

Recently the media have linked Alisson with Liverpool, but it’s definitely a deal Arsenal should think about hijacking.

He apparently refused a new deal to try and force a move this summer, and is in great form in Italy.

The proposed extension included a buy-out clause of £71m, so it’s lucky he rejected it.

He’s even caught the eye of Real Madrid scouts with his impressive displays, particularly in Europe.

He kept clean sheets against Atletico Madrid and Chelsea in the Champions League group stages.

Arsenal missed their chance to bring Wojciech Szczesny back from Roma last year, perhaps they can sign Alisson, the keeper not good enough to dislodge Szczesny from the Roma lineup, from the Italians instead.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 17 in 37 matches (one every 2.18 matches)
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 3.83
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 83%

Jack Butland

• Current club: Stoke City
• Age: 24
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £16.2m

Jack Butland is constantly linked with a move to Arsenal, even though his performances haven’t been so impressive this season.

The England international has struggled with Stoke recently, although that’s largely the fault of his teammates.

The side sit 19th in the league, so it’s probably unfair to judge him too harshly on this campaign.

Then again, the own goal he scored didn’t do him any favours.

Nonetheless, he’s an experienced Premier League goalkeeper, and no one else in the competition can boast more saves this season than him.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 5 in 29 matches (one every 5.80 matches)
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.82
• Errors leading to goals: 1
• Distribution accuracy: 51%

Gianluigi Donnarumma

• Current club: AC Milan
• Age: 19
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £36m

Although transfermarkt.co.uk gives Donnarumma’s value as £36m, in reality he’d probably cost as much as almost any top goalkeeper in Europe.

He only turned 19 in February, and already has 114 appearances for Milan.

He has also made his debut for the Italian national team, and once Buffon retires he’ll likely hold down the number one spot for years to come.

If Arsenal signed Donnarumma they probably wouldn’t need a new goalkeeper for more than a decade.

Unfortunately everyone knows that, so there would be massive competition for his signature, and a bidding war that Milan would probably drag on as long as they could.

Nonetheless, for such a promising talent, it would be worth a shot.

He’s not without his faults though, as you’d expect from a 19-year-old.

This season he’s made more errors leading to goals than anyone on this list, including one against Arsenal, spilling Granit Xhaka’s shot into his own net.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 19 in 42 matches (one every 2.21 matches)
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.90
• Errors leading to goals: 3
• Distribution accuracy: 77%

Timo Horn

• Current club: FC Koln
• Age: 24
• Contract until: 2022
• Estimated value: £10.8m

Horn is a self-confessed Arsenal fan, and in January the media linked him with a move to the club.

He is well-regarded in Germany, and represented his country at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Like Butland, Horn has the disadvantage of playing for a club performing very poorly.

Koln are bottom of the Bundesliga, eight points from safety, so he’s unlikely to keep many clean sheets.

Of course, that didn’t stop him keeping Wenger’s side out when they visited Germany.

Koln’s misfortune could be good news for Arsenal though, as Horn would reportedly be available for £5.4m if the German side go down.

Definitely a budget option.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 7 in 36 matches (one every 5.14 matches)
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.51
• Errors leading to goals: 2
• Distribution accuracy: 56%