Stack Questions Meslier's Decision to Accept No 3 Role at Arsenal
Andy Stack cannot get his head around it.
Arsenal have brought in Illan Meslier to sit behind David Raya and Kepa Arrizabalaga, a 26-year-old with more than 200 games for Leeds United suddenly parked as third choice in north London. For Stack, that is not smart career management. It is surrender.
The Frenchman arrived on a free after his Leeds contract expired, a move framed by the club as experienced cover for Mikel Arteta’s champions. Stack sees something very different: a goalkeeper stepping away from the fight.
“I question him, I really do question the goalkeeper,” the former Arsenal stopper told Metro. “The reason I say that is that he’s got Premier League experience, he’s played countless games in the Premier League, he’s got bundles of experience, been at Leeds for I don’t know how many years.
“He’s played loads of games, and maybe he doesn’t have that burning desire to go and play games and put himself under pressure. Maybe that’s what he’s after.
“But I’m just surprised with someone of Meslier’s quality that he’s decided to almost chuck the towel in and be a number three.”
Academy alarm bells
Stack’s frustration does not stop with Meslier. It runs straight through Arsenal’s goalkeeping department.
Meslier’s arrival has already pushed 20-year-old Tommy Setford towards the exit door on loan in search of regular football. For a club that prides itself on youth development, Stack believes this is the wrong message and the wrong solution.
“Look, he’s experienced, but it’s highly unlikely that you would use him,” he said. “My question is, is there not another goalkeeper at Arsenal Football Club that’s capable of that?
“What are they doing at the club that they’re not producing any goalies? They just keep signing goalies. At what point is there going to be an Arsenal goalkeeper that’s going to, not even break through, but I’m talking about being a number three.”
The signing, in his eyes, is less about insurance and more an indictment of the pathway for young keepers at the Emirates.
Meslier’s view: capital move, title platform
Meslier, for his part, could hardly sound more delighted.
Frozen out by Daniel Farke in his final year at Leeds after experiencing both promotion and the grind of a relegation battle, the Frenchman has framed this switch as a reset at the very top of the English game. He has already pulled on the shirt in a pre-season friendly against Girona and talks like a man who sees this as the peak, not a step back.
“I’m extremely happy. It's a great day for me because I have just joined the champions. For me, Arsenal is the biggest club in England. I'm very happy and very proud to join Arsenal. I cannot wait to show the love that I've got for this badge, and I cannot wait to win trophies with this team, because this is a club that needs to lift trophies again and again,” he told the club’s official website.
Where Stack sees a loss of edge, Meslier sees medals, pressure at the very top, and a chance to fight for silverware rather than simply minutes.
‘Arsenal will win it’: title belief burns bright
If Stack is unconvinced by the goalkeeping strategy, he is emphatic about everything else happening at Arsenal.
The champions have moved aggressively in the market. Bruno Guimaraes has arrived as the headline act, with Piero Hincapie and Christos Tzolis also added to a squad already good enough to win the league. To Stack, that looks like a champion doubling down, not one content to admire last season’s work.
“Absolutely, Arsenal will win it,” he said. “I think Arsenal will be buzzing after last year, and think it’s a situation now where it’s basically the monkey off their back.
“They will be going into the season absolutely buzzing, and with the signing of Guimaraes and probably more to come between now and the start of the season, I think they will definitely strengthen.
“I fancy Arsenal to go and win it, but I think that it will be a close-run race with Man City, I think City will be close behind them.”
So Meslier steps into a dressing room stacked with ambition, into a title defence that even the sceptics believe is on. The question now is whether a goalkeeper of his age and pedigree can really live with being the third man in line – or whether this “number three” role becomes a battle of its own as the season tightens and the stakes rise.
