Alex Runarsson may leave on loan or be relegated to the role previously occupied by Matt Macey, who has recently left for Hibernian, while the Gunners could find someone else to compete with Bernd Leno for the starting spot.
David Raya has reportedly re-emerged on the Arsenal radar and there are other goalies we think the Gunners may consider if the club wants to go for another shot-stopper.
On paper, these rumours make sense: we don't want to get stuck with the error-prone Runarsson if Leno sustains an injury.
Mikel Arteta conceded they are looking for options in the January market and will try to buy someone else to complement the German and the Icelander. "We are assessing the situation with the three positions on the goalkeeping area and we will find a different solution, probably in this window," said the manager.
Yet we think Arsenal should not land another goalie in January—and here are our 3 reasons why.
Leno is not injury-prone
Since the beginning of his professional career at Stuttgart in 2009, Leno has sustained 5 injuries and knocks and has missed only 15 games.
Arsenal fans were in despair when Neal Maupay caused an injury to Leno back in June and it's the trauma of our anxiety during that time that sees us hope for a new goalkeeper.
In reality, such injuries rarely happen and Leno does not usually get injured in training. Some keepers like Alisson need a good second-choice goalie because they often pick up injuries—but Bernd has shown he is fit enough to be available for several seasons in a row.
Academy keepers' futures
18-year-old Karl Jakob Hein has earned 6 caps for Estonia national team despite not playing a single senior game for Arsenal. He can become a world-class keeper in the future, and the Gunners acknowledged his potential back in 2018 when they beat the competition of the likes of Man United and Juventus for his signature.
Arthur Okonkwo is another talented goalie who can come through the Academy ranks at Arsenal. The 19-year-old missed the previous season through injury and has had fitness issues this season too, but it is too early to give up on him at the moment. He has even trained with the first team before the Newcastle game.
Hubert Graczyk and James Hillson are other young keepers who can make a step up to the senior side in the future.
Arsenal have several talented kids in the goalkeeping deparment—but signing someone like David Raya would make it nearly impossible for them to get chances in the first team.
Home grown players rule
There is a reason why Matt Macey and Emi Martinez had been kept at Arsenal for so long. Both are home grown: that is, players who spent at least 3 years at an English club before the age of 21.
There should be no more than 17 non-home grown players in the 25-man squad each club submits to the Premier League. Sokratis and Mesut Ozil have been excluded because they do not fulfill the home grown criteria.
Arsenal currently have a shortage of home grown players: only Bellerin, Chambers, Holding and Maitland-Niles are our over-21 players who trained with an English club before their 21st birthday.
David Raya is home grown so if we sign the Brentford man we'll be fine, but signing a keeper from abroad would result in losing a non-home grown place in the squad that could be occupied by someone more important than a second or third-choice goalkeeper. Someone like Buendia or Brandt.
Runarsson deserves another chance
Alex Runarsson had a disastrous showing against Man City in the League Cup but he also made a couple of saves and looked good playing out from the back.
He has failed to impress in an Arsenal shirt yet but one poor game does not mean we should ship him off as soon as possible.
Perhaps he can learn from his mistakes and keep himself more focused during games. Seaman, Lehmann, Sczeczsny, Leno have all made costly errors but were given other chances at Arsenal.
After all, it's not that we lost a Champions League final because of his blunders. One mistake should not put an end to Runarsson's Arsenal career.
