Mertesacker: We want Szczesny back

Since coming to Arsenal, Petr Čech has played well enough to make pretty much everyone forget about his predecessors between the sticks at Arsenal. Well, maybe not forget them, but I doubt there are many Arsenal fans aching to see Čech replaced anytime soon. But he's 33, and while he doesn't seem likely to slow down any, he's not immortal.

Luckily Arsenal have an internal replacement – one of those aforementioned "predecessors" – and it turns out his teammates miss him! I am of course talking about Wojciech Szczesny, who's spending the year studying abroad in Rome. Here's what Per Mertesacker had to say about him:

Wojciech wants to compete. I think he's a good goalkeeper and he can still develop. The team wants him back - that's good for him. He's shown great character already in this team and I think he has got a bright future.

Szczesny has had a pretty good year at Roma so far, so at least at the moment it looks like the loan move was a good one for him. #thelads certainly like him back at Arsenal, so hopefully he can build on the first half of the year and go from there, and eventually come back to north London and realize his potential in full.