Ornstein: Arsenal move for Ba, Viviano on loan

According to David Ornstein of the BBC, Arsenal are moving for two players on loan: Chelsea's Demba Ba, and Palermo goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano. The latter move was reported by Gianluca Di Marzio yesterday, and is a loan option with a move to buy. Viviano, capped by Italy 6 times, and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Manuel Almunia, will be a good backup option for Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski, and should provide competition for both.

We also know about Demba Ba, as Arsenal were rumoured to be mooting a move for him last winter (and their failure to do so provoked one of the best memes) before he joined Chelsea. He's not exactly been a roaring success at Chelsea, and is now 3rd or 4th choice behind Romelu Lukaku, Fernando Torres and Andre Schurrle, and has been left out of Chelsea's past two squads. He was still very good at Newcastle, though, and will be a like for like replacement for Olivier Giroud, should the need arise. Given that Lukas Podolski is out for 3 months, it's probably best to have a decent backup. It's not the world-class striker some were demanding, but, Mesut Ozil is looking increasingly like being a thing, so be I can deal.