Roma contact Arsenal with Szczesny interest

A few reports – one from Gianluca di Marzio's site, and one from the Telegraph – are claiming that Roma have contacted Arsenal in an attempt to sign goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in one fashion or another. The di Marzio report reads initially as if the deal would be permanent, but Matt Law claims otherwise, saying it would be a season-long loan.

...the Pole does not want to leave the Emirates permanently at this stage.

Similarly, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger still believes Szczesny can be a top goalkeeper so a loan move may well work best for all parties.

Law goes on to say that the original plan was to keep Szczesny and sell David Ospina in the wake of Petr Čech's arrival at Arsenal, but this may be a preferable option for all involved.

My opinion of this move depends entirely on the length of Szczesny's departure. If this is a permanent deal, I'd be very upset. Like Wenger, I still believe Szczesny has what it takes to be a top-level goalkeeper, and I think it would be a mistake to let him go. But if he's able to get a loan at a top-tier Serie A club (and whatever you think about the league as a whole, Roma's definitely one of the few clubs that could challenge Juventus), that could be exactly what he needs. I'm not the biggest Ospina fan in the world, but he's certainly good enough to be a backup to Čech, and there's Damian Martinez around as well, so I'd feel confident in our available options. And considering the fact that Szczesny reacted admirably to Čech's arrival, I doubt he's immediately trying to push his way out or anything like that, so the loan makes more sense.

Personally I'd like to keep Szczesny around Čech as much as possible. But playing time can't hurt anything. As long as Szczesny comes back, I'm fine with this (if it actually happens). It doesn't sound imminent either way, though, so stay tuned.