Real Madrid should not hesitate to sign David De Gea for £35m.
That price is cheap.
My gut feeling? He’s a fantastic keeper who will quickly establish himself as the best in La Liga.
Casillas has been over the hill for years!
Without a world class goalkeeper, Real Madrid will lose to Barcelona in every competition for the next five years.
They’re not stupid. They must know that. Seriously, they must know that.
We don’t know whether Rafa Benitez is the right coach for Real Madrid at this moment. But we do know that David De Gea is a magnificent goalkeeper who wants to join them.
And in five years time, David De Gea will only be 29 and in his prime.
Manchester United were No.1 or thereabouts for decades because Sir Alex knew that he needed a Peter Schmeichel/Edwin Van Der Sar quality of goalkeeper: a guy who will win matches for you regularly and, in tight battles, make wonder saves that keep you in the game.
Wenger’s decision to sign Petr Cech is a good one.
It shows that, at last, he is taking defence seriously.
Arsenal might get five seasons out of the 30-year old Cech, a magnificent professional.
If so, it will be the best £11m Arsenal have ever spent.
When we saw that goalkeeping coach Tony Roberts had joined Swansea, we knew this deal was on.
Some weeks ago Philippe Auclair confirmed to me that if Arsenal sign Cech, they’d get Christophe Lollichon as well and that was a big moment in this transfer window.
But I didn’t write about it at the time.
Means that Arsenal might challenge for the title…. for a few months at least.
The arrival of Petr Cech could be, I believe, insurance against being knocked out of the Champions League in the Round of 16 next season.
THAT’S BEEN ONE OF MY THEMES HERE:
Arsenal are one of the top 16 teams in Europe.
You deserve more than that.