After announcing his retirement this summer, former Arsenal favourite Wojciech Szczesny was tempted back into football by an offer from Barcelona.
Arsenal tried to sign Szczesny themselves this summer according to reports, someone who would have come in instead of Neto to play backup to David Raya.
However, Szczesny decided that his motivation had faded, he was ready to take the next step in his career beyond football, well that was at least until Barcelona came knocking.
Given Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s serious injury, one that will rule him out for a lot of the season, Szczesny was tempted to come back, excited by the prospect of one last hurrah.
In fairness, the prospect of playing regularly for Barcelona would beat sitting on the bench at the Emirates Stadium, even if Arsenal are a club the Poland international loves dearly.
Wojciech Szczesny left blown away by Arsenal target Pau Cubarsi
That being said, since moving to the Catalan capital, Szczesny has now been inadvertently adding to some of Arsenal’s scouting reports.
As well as being linked with the likes of Jules Kounde and Raphinha in the summer, Arsenal were also eyeing a move for Pau Cubarsi according to reports in Spain.
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The 17-year-old centre-back already has a big reputation around Europe, and after arriving to Barcelona training, Szczesny immediately noticed the strength of the youngster.
Szczesny admitted that he imagined Cubarsi would be ‘soft’, given he’s a very modern centre-back.
However, the former Arsenal favourite then admitted that Cubarsi had surprised him more than anyone else.
Speaking via Fabrizio Romao on X, Szczesny said: “Pau Cubarsi is the player who surprised me the most.
“I expected him to be a modern type of elegant defender on the ball, but softer. But when you see him live… he is actually not soft at all and makes very good decisions.”
Arsenal still need one more centre-back to cover for William Saliba
Although Mikel Arteta is well stacked in his defensive ranks right now, it still seems very likely that the Gunners will add one more centre-back in the near future.
Arsenal also wanted Jorrel Hato this summer, a similar profile to Cubarsi, just one that might be attainable at a more reasonable price.
It seems realistic that all of Jakub Kiwior, Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko could leave before the start of next season, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean that Arsenal would need a new left-back.
Given the versatility of Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu, and with young Myles Lewis-Skelly coming through, Arteta may focus on signing a centre-back instead.
And perhaps Cubarsi could still be on the club’s radar, a youngster with a very bright future ahead.
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