Wojciech Szczesny Could Miss Rest Of Season With Ruptured Tendon

What seemed like a simple catch in the first half of Arsenal's second leg UEFA Champions League match against Barcelona may end Wojciech Szczesny's season. The Gunners' goalkeeper reacted with a grimace after making an innocent looking catch and quickly asked out of the match. Now it has been revealed that Szczesny has a ruptured tendon in his hand and could miss the rest of the season, according to Sky Sports television.

It is no secret to those that follow the sport even a little bit that Arsenal have had goalkeeping problems for several years now. Recently it looked like the 20-year-old Szczesny might be able to develop into a dependable keeper, but now that heis out the club will have to go back to Manuel Almunia, which is a nightmare scenario for the Gunners.

Almunia lost his starting keeper job earlier in the season to Lukasz Fabianski after a series of poor performances. Fabianski took over the starting job, but he injured his shoulder warming up for a match and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. With Szczesny possibly out for the remainder of the season as well, Arsenal are back to where they started the season: with Almunia, wishing they had someone else.

Arsenal had three keepers on their team in Szczesny, Fabianski and Almunia, but with only Almunia left healthy they will have to move for a back-up to the Spaniard. Odds are that the Gunners will recall the 23-year-old Italian Vito Mannone from his loan with Hull City, but it is hardly the ideal situation for a club that has repeatedly failed to move for a top-flight keeper.