Wenger tells Almunia he can leave Arsenal in January for just ￡1.5m

狄.龍

Atletico Madrid have deposed No.1 in their sights
6 Dec 2010 11:45:00

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey

Manuel Almunia has been told by Arsenal that he is free to find a new club in January, Goal.com UK can reveal.

The 33-year-old goalkeeper, who has not played for the first team since suffering an elbow injury in the home defeat to West Brom on September 25, could be given an escape route back to Spain.

Financially-stricken Atletico Madrid are among the clubs monitoring Almunia’s situation and will be on the lookout for a new keeper if they cash in on highly-rated No.1 David de Gea, who has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United.

Although Almunia began the season in the Arsenal goal, his grip on the keeper’s jersey has remained precarious following the club’s summer-long pursuit of Mark Schwarzer, which ended when the Australian signed a new Fulham contract last week.

Since injuring himself against West Brom, Almunia has played only 45 minutes for the reserves a fortnight ago but manager Arsene Wenger claimed last week that the Spaniard had suffered another setback in training and was not ready to return to the first-team squad.

Arsenal have showed no desire to offer a new contract to the long-serving goalkeeper, whose deal at the club he joined six years ago ends in 2012. Wenger has finally lost patience with Almunia, who has made a string of high-profile blunders, and is willing to offload him for as little as ￡1.5 million.

“Almunia has been told he can leave in January if he finds a club willing to meet Arsenal’s valuation,” a club source told Goal.com UK. “Wenger does not see him as his long-term No.1 and believes that, at his age, Almunia deserves to be playing regular first-team football.”

However, the keeper is settled in England and married to an English woman, and would only be willing to move to a club on the Continent or in his native Spain if he will be the undisputed No.1.  

Although Wenger stated last week that he does not intend to bolster his squad in January, the manager is still on the look-out for a reliable goalkeeper.

Lukasz Fabianski, who has started every Arsenal Premier League and Champions League game since Almunia’s injury, has benefited from an extended run in the team but has still made a number of costly unforced errors.

Fabianski’s fellow Pole Wojciech Szczesny is viewed by Wenger as the club’s long-term No.1 and signed a new, five-year contract last month but his first-team experience amounts to two appearances in the League Cup.

Source: Goal.com

Almunia 要走了

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