According to a recent report by The Sun, Arsenal are believed to be targeting Real Madrid custodian Keylor Navas. The north London based outfit have reportedly tabled a bid of £14m to lure Navas to the Emirates Stadium this month to beef up their goalkeeping options.
Keylor Navas: Fact File
Navas emerged through the youth ranks of Costa Rican outfit Saprissa and went on to represent their senior side. Following his spells with Albacete and Levante, his stupendous displays in the 2014 World Cup with Costa Rica persuaded Real Madrid to make him sign on the dotted line.
He took over the post held by legendary Iker Casillas and cemented himself as the first-choice goalkeeper of the club with relative ease. His time with the Spanish giants has been a productive one as he guided his club to 1 La Liga and 3 Champions League titles.
However, the arrival of Thibaut Courtois at Santiago Bernabeu in the summer proved to be detrimental for Navas. So far this campaign, the Costa Rican international has been able to muster just 7 appearances across all competitions and is certainly out of favour.
The 32-year-old is desperate to get regular game time under his belt and is apparently looking to start fresh. Apart from Arsenal, Serie A side AS Roma are also reported to be interested in securing his services and it will be intriguing to see what lies ahead for him.
The situation at Arsenal
Arsenal signed Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen during the summer transfer window to compete with Petr Cech for the place between the sticks. Although Cech started the season as the first-choice shot-stopper, his difficulty in playing out from the back made Unai Emery turn to Leno.
Leno has been decent in his endeavours and he hasn’t disappointed the Arsenal fans. The German international has conceded 22 goals in 15 appearances in the Premier League so far for the Gunners, managing to keep 2 clean sheets in the process.
Arsenal’s stuttering back line is the primary reason for the club’s inability to stop most of their opponents from scoring. Their defence lacks cohesion and the injury to Rob Holding has hit the club hard. Meanwhile, the veteran defenders in the ranks of Emery have failed to step up lately.
Verdict
The availability of Leno, Cech and Emiliano Martinez in the armoury implies that Emery does have a good stock of goalkeepers. The Spaniard’s real cause of concern is the lack of quality and fit central defenders and therefore, investing on a goalkeeper instead of a centre-back in this transfer window isn’t going to make much sense.
