After losing Lukasz Fabianski, Wojiech Szczesny and even 4th choice Vito Mannone to long-term injuries, Arsenal are down to exactly two fit goalkeepers. The erratic Manuel Almunia and 19 year-old James Shea are Arsene Wenger's only options in the net at the moment, and the team has been widely expected to acquire a new goalie on emergency loan in the very near future. However, the Gunners appear to be going a different route - they're apparently in talks to coax former goalkeeper Jens Lehmann out of retirement.
Arsenal In Talks With Jens Lehmann After Goalkeeping Injury Crisis
Lehmann, who hung up the gloves last June after three seasons with VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, played with Arsenal for five years, featuring in every match in their ‘Invincibles’ campaign. Eventually he was relegated to second-choice behind Almunia, he left the club in 2008 after failing to unseat the Spaniard in the Gunners’ goalkeeping pecking order. And now, apparently, Arsenal want him back.
Jens Lehmann is in talks with Arsenal over a possible return. Story to follow ...
Guardian sport
guardian_sport
Obviously coaxing a 41 year-old out of retirement is an odd thing to do, but it does make some kind of sense - goalkeeping injuries are rare enough that Lehmann would probably never see game action, and the idea of bringing back an old friend to sit on the bench is kind of neat. Being in talks doesn’t mean he’s signed yet (no matter what Wikipedia says), so we’ll just have to wait to see what develops here.
For more on Jens Lehmann and Arsenal, visit the Short Fuse.
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