Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will have been thankful for two things on Thursday night.
Firstly, he would’ve been thankful to see his native Spain qualify for the last 16 of the World Cup, despite losing 2-1 to Japan following a massive scare in Qatar.
And secondly, he’ll be relieved that he never wound up bringing Unai Simon to Arsenal.
The 25-year-old Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper was complicit in Japan’s first goal through Ritsu Doan, whose thumping effort was parried into his own net by the Spanish stopper.
It looked a good strike on first viewing but, on further inspection, the former reported Arsenal target definitely should’ve done a lot better.
In 2021, Arteta is reported by La Razon to have asked the Gunners to bring Simon to North London.
That same summer, the Emirates Stadium outfit wound up signing Aaron Ramsdale, who has since emerged as one of the Premier League’s finest goalkeepers.
Gary Neville’s comments about the Spaniard last night accurately sum things up.
He told ITV‘s Fifa World Cup highlights [01/12, 10:45 pm]: “Simon is the one part of their game that looks like a real weak point and I have to say it starts off badly. He’s got to save that [first goal]. They’ve got De Gea still at home. I know he’s not been brilliant these last few years, but I can’t think he’d let that one in! That’s a real bad one.”
There’s quite a few players who Arsenal reportedly wanted to sign that summer and wound up missing, which proved a blessing in disguise and maybe, just maybe, the same is true of Simon.
Obviously he’s a very good goalkeeper ordinarily, but Arteta needs his stoppers to be flawless and you have to say, Ramsdale looks a far better option.
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