“I’m just popping out to buy a keeper, dear” – so says Arsène, as if was as easy as picking up a pair of socks.
Well, maybe it is.
It’s been pretty clear that with just Jens “Crazy Hoss” Lehmann between the sticks, and the Spanish maverick as his back-up, we needed some more competition to keep the pair on their toes. The fact that Lehmann is suspended for the first two Champions League fixtures, leaving us with the semi-crocked Almunia and nobody on the bench, might also have come into the reckoning.
That keeper could be Sebastien Viera, as has been widely suggested, but such is the wily way Wenger works that it might just as well not be. All we can say with some certainty is that the keeper in question will be better than Stuart Taylor and Graham Stack, neither of whom was deemed third keeper material.
As for other reinforcements – well, if there are to be any, Wenger hasn’t made any pronouncements as yet. To be honest, it’s most un-Arsène to make such announcements, but there we go.
Apologies, by the way, for the random timing of my entries. It’s going to remain this way for some time, I think.
Maybe I’m still trying to take in the fact that the season tickets at Arsenal from 2006 – unless you’re retired, pre-school or disabled – will cost a minimum of £885.
My first season as a season ticket holder – 1994 – set me back £260.
That’s what you have to accept if you want the Almunias of this world.