David Ospina's Arsenal career could slip through his fingers after Colombia gaffes

Decisive: touched an indirect free-kick into his net to hand Peru a 1-1 draw
EPA
James Olley11 October 2017

David Ospina has revealed his frustration over a lack of first-team opportunities at Arsenal.

The 29-year-old has made just three appearances for the Gunners this season, twice featuring in the Europa League either side of last month’s Carabao Cup win against Doncaster.

That sporadic involvement may have affected his international form, given high-profile mistakes in Colombia’s last two games have cost them — and inadvertently his Gunners’ team-mate Alexis Sanchez — a spot at the World Cup finals.

Ospina made two errors to allow Paraguay to come from behind to win 2-1 on Friday and in the early hours of this morning he touched an indirect free-kick into his net to hand Peru a 1-1 draw. That result meant Sanchez also missed out on qualification, as his Chile team were beaten by Brazil.

Those blunders make it even more likely Ospina will sit out Arsenal’s Premier League game at Watford on Saturday, with Petr Cech established as manager Arsene Wenger’s preferred choice.

Ospina has not started a League game since April and prior to featuring for Colombia this month, he said: “I am happy here. I’m happy at the club but of course I want to play more games. I have a very good relationship with Petr. He’s a good guy, I respect him a lot and I respect his career but I want to play more.

“I have spoken to the manager about this. He knows my thoughts, he knows I want to play more and that’s what I’m working towards now.

“We have the Europa League and the FA Cup as well as the Premier League, so there are good opportunities for me to play games. If I get to play, I hope to do well. But more important than all of that is that Arsenal win titles.”

Ospina has asked to leave Arsenal for the last two seasons but both times he was talked into staying by Wenger.

The Gunners have scouted several goalkeepers in recent months and were interested in signing Jordan Pickford from Sunderland before baulking at Sunderland’s £30million asking price.

Wenger had viewed Pickford as a possible long-term replacement for Cech and had he moved to Emirates Stadium, Ospina would have been allowed to leave.

But Arsenal did not view strengthening the position as a priority and once Everton matched Sunderland’s valuation, they opted against a shake-up.

However, Ospina’s current contract expires in 2019 and it seems unlikely he will be convinced to stay for his final season without a prolonged change in the pecking order. It remains to be seen whether Ospina views this latest setback with Colombia as a direct consequence of his treatment at club level.

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