Cech signing compares to Arsenal's Jennings coup

Petr Cech's imminent signing from Chelsea reminds me of when Arsenal signed Pat Jennings from Spurs.

Although like Cech, he was no vampire keeper (afraid of crosses), Jennings was in the 'twilight' years of his career (get it?).

At the time of the transfer, I thought Spurs must be mental to sell their best keeper of all time to their hated rivals, but even I didn't expect him to play for Arsenal for 8 years!

Jennings' arrival settled the defence down, and Arsenal went on to feature in 4 cup finals in 3 years; it had been a while since the last one so it was a marked improvement from the Jimmy Rimmer era.

However, it was just the one FA Cup that was landed by Arsenal during Jennings' 8 years. That would be a disappointing return, if the same happened with Cech in goal.

Hopefully, John Terry's prediction that Cech will help Arsenal gain 12-15 more points in the season will prove to be true.

While I agree that Cech's cool presence will improve Arsenal's defence, I'm not sure David Ospina has done a lot wrong. I mean, how many points did the South American cost Arsenal last season? I'll have to trawl through all the games last season to work that out accurately, so if someone's got a figure please let me know.

The other positive about Cech's arrival is Szczesny will learn a lot from the Czech Republic international. The Pole is an FA Cup winner now, but still needs to improve to become the Arsenal great I always thought he would be. Cech may be the ideal teacher for him.

Meanwhile, it's 'adios' to Ospina, who appears unwilling to fight for his place. That is a great shame, as I think he would have be en the undisputed number two next year, if Cech finally signs. Maybe Ospina was angered by being left out of the FA Cup final first eleven and, if that is the reason, that's the price Arsenal pay for their strict but unusual cup selection policy.

Returning to Cech's imminent signing, the reported £10.9m fee seems a bit pricey, given Arsenal only got about 50 per cent more than that for Ashley Cole. From a financial perspective, Cech is nowhere near the bargain deal that Pat Jennings was. I believe the big Northern Ireland international cost Arsenal around £65k (if memory serves correctly, and I'm sure someone will correct me if it's wrong!).

Other than the exorbitant transfer fee, the other surprise about Cech is that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic seems to have over-ruled his coach Jose Mourinho, who didn't want the keeper to stay in the Premier League. There are some reports that Mourinho prevented Iker Casillas from joining Arsenal from Real Madrid when he was manager in the Spanish capital, so it seems strange that Chelsea's most successful boss ever has less clout in London.

Nevertheless, Chelsea's loss is Arsenal's gain, and despite the exorbitant transfer fee I feel this is money well spent. The Cech transfer may well come back to haunt Chelsea, starting next season.

Shorts: Arsenal have reportedly signed Vlad Dragomir, Romania's U16 skipper. Let's hope he's not asthmatic or he'll be dubbed 'Vlad the Inhaler'!

Meanwhile, Arsenal are 'keeping tabs on' Baba Rahman of Augsberg, according to the Metro. The Ghana international defender will cost £10-14m, which is a awful lot of 'coinage'. He seems to fit the age profile of most Arsenal signings, being just 20 years of age, but I expect Chelsea or Man City to beat us to his signing, even if we have a genuine interest in the player. (If anyone does have any information on this though, please let me know).

Sent from my iPhone

Ryo takes his unselfish genes elsewhere

It's the silly season, as far as transfer rumours are concerned, but there has been a bit of concrete business recently completed by the Arsenal: Ryo Miyaichi has left.

I can't say I'm surprised, as Ryo was on loan at FC Twente last season and ended up playing more games for the reserves than he did the first team.

It was hoped that he would emulate his achievements at Feyenoord, where he excelled enough to earn the nickname 'Ryodinho'. However, it wasn't to be.

Back at Arsenal after that successful loan spell, Ryo struggled with injuries and that may have affected his confidence. And let's be honest, every footballer needs confidence. Some more than others, it's true. In that area, Ryo needs a huge injection of that 'feel good' feeling. It just wasn't forthcoming at Arsenal, where despite his speed and skill, it was difficult to justify his selection ahead of too many experienced and even less experienced performers.

Given a run in the team, which he should get at his new club St Pauli, I'm expecting Ryo to come good. I'm not saying he will amass loads of caps for Japan, but slowly he should be able to get his career back on track.

Surely he can't be dogged with injuries forever. Some people say with today's medicine you come back stronger after injury, but that's not always the case. Ask Abou Diaby!

However, a certain Robin van Persie was able to put injuries behind him to become the best player in the English leagues at one point. Hopefully, Ryo - who has a similar build - will fare better in the future.

I also wonder, though, how well Ryo settled in England. It's so different to Japan, where efficiency and team-work are always expected. Perhaps Germany is more similar in that respect: it seems more about the group and less about the individual. Surely, Ryo can flourish in such an unselfish environment.

We will just have to watch and see.



Sent from my iPhone