Manchester City have reportedly joined Arsenal over a summer move for key Atletico Madrid star Jan Oblak.
Goal have reported that Manchester City are interested in a summer deal to bring Atletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak over to England. The custodian has been linked with a move to Arsenal in the recent past and it looks like Wenger is set to face competition from Pep Guardiola for Los Rojiblancos’ undisputed first-choice in goal.
Jan Oblak was always touted as one for the future and his displays for SL Benfica earned him a move to Atletico Madrid in July 2014. The player quickly displaced their then first-choice Miguel Angel Moya and established himself as the number one for Diego Simeone’s men.
As El Cholo put his faith behind the Slovenian, Oblak repaid with dividends. The 24-year-old has kept 54 shutouts in 93 outings for his current employers, averaging 1 clean sheet in less than every 2 games, unprecedented numbers for a keeper.
Oblak has kept 11 clean sheets this season in the 21 games in La Liga Santander and Champions League combined, conceding just 15 goals in the process. Oblak’s stock has risen so rapidly that it has brought forth interest from the Premier League, with Arsene Wenger looking for a long-term successor to Petr Cech.
And now City have entered the race as well and quite understandably. Guardiola sent Joe Hart out on loan and brought in Claudio Bravo from Barcelona with the ideology that the player was more suited to the kind of football the former Bayern manager wanted to see the Citizens playing.
Guardiola likes his team to play out from the back, which needs a sweeper keeper. Hence, Bravo was signed. But the Chilean has been utterly disappointing in goal for the blue half of Manchester. Bravo has kept just 4 clean sheets in 18 Premier League outings and has failed to save a majority of the shots on goal.
Claudio Bravo’s goalkeeping is proving to be a problem for Manchester City: Analysis: https://t.co/YWFF9TtKUW #SSNHQ pic.twitter.com/iFeM29dl47
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) January 15, 2017
Oblak’s release clause currently stands at a massive €100 million and Atletico Madrid are unlikely to be interested in negotiating a deal for a lesser amount. There have been rumours of Guardiola being set to be handed a war-chest to rebuild the City squad in the summer and Oblak could be one of the stars that the Spaniard targets.
Arsenal too, though, are in for the Slovenian and are unlikely to let Manchester City a clear run for the custodian. It would be interesting to see if either of the club can interest Oblak enough in the summer to leave Atletico Madrid.
