Arsenal FC Opinion: Why Arsenal should move for Ionut Radu

According to claims from Italian outlet FC Inter News, Arsenal are interested in signing Romanian goalkeeper Ionut Radu from Genoa this summer, as confirmed by the 22-year-old’s agent Crescenzo Cecero.

The same source claims that Lyon are also monitoring the situation of the young and promising shot-stopper, who rose to prominence on his loan spell at Genoa from Inter Milan this past season.

Radu was nothing but a completely unknown entity in Europe just a year back but the 22-year-old has carved out a big reputation in his first full season in the Serie A.

The former Romanian U-21 international made a total of 33 appearances for Genoa between the sticks last term and caught the eye with his consistently impressive displays, playing a key role as Cesare Prandelli’s side managed to avoid relegation by the virtue of a superior goal difference.

Radu’s incredible rise in the Italian top-flight has prompted a number of top European clubs, including Arsenal to keep a close eye on him.

The Romanian’s loan deal at Genoa included an obligation to make the stay permanent at the end of the campaign and it is understood that any potential suitor would need to cough up a sizeable fee to lure the 22-year-old away from the Serie A outfit.

Born in Bucharest, Romania, Radu played for the likes of Steaua Bucuresti, Dinamo Bucuresti and Pergolettese in his homeland before being snapped up Inter Milan back in 2013. He featured primarily for the reserves at Inter before making his first-team debut in the ultimate Serie A game of the 2015-16 season.

That proved to be Radu’s only competitive appearance for the San Siro-based outfit and the Romanian was shipped out on loan to Serie B side Avellino in 2017, where he made 24 appearances. The youngster was once again loaned out at the start of the 2018-19 season, this time to Genoa with an obligation to buy.

The 22-year-old registered an impressive 104 saves in the Serie A this past season, 57 of which came from inside the penalty box, including 7 from within the six-yard box.

Although he came under scrutiny for a few errors over the course of the campaign, Radu averaged an eye-watering 3.2 saves per game with a shot-saved percentage of 70. He shipped only 46 goals in 33 Serie A outings and managed 6 clean sheets in the process.

To put things into perspective, Radu is not the finished article by any means butArsenal have every reason to look at him as a replacement for Petr Cech, who finally hung up his boots following the Gunners’ 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in the Europa League final.

Goalkeepers usually reach their prime years when they are 25 or 26 and Radu, 22, still has plenty of time left to make significant improvements to his game.

The cash-strapped Gunners might be tempted to utilise Emiliano Martinez in the No.2 role behind Bernd Leno, who enjoyed a promising debut season in the Premier League since his arrival from Bayer Leverkusen last summer.

However, Martinez hasn’t really made an impact in the first-team over the course of his long stay at the Emirates, whilst David Ospina is likely to seek a fresh challenge elsewhere following his successful loan spell at Napoli this past season.

Bringing in a young and talented goalkeeper like Ionut Radu certainly makes a lot of sense for the Gunners, given that he has the potential to go on and challenge Leno for a first-team role in the years to come.

Arsenal need to prioritise the acquisition of fresh faces at centre-back, left-back, central midfield, right-back and right-wing but investing in Radu to improve the level of competition in the goalkeeping ranks won’t be the worst idea for Unai Emery.

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Keeping that in mind, Arsenal need to look at Ionut Radu as a good long-term investment who could go on to make a big name for himself in the Premier League in the future.