Manuel Almunia Must Fight For His Place At Arsenal Says Manager Arsene Wenger

Posted Saturday, December 18, 2010 by Goal.com

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says that rumours of interest from other clubs will play no part in deciding the future of goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and insists that the Spaniard must fight to regain the number one spot.

Almunia has not featured in Arsenal's starting line-up since August, after injuring his elbow in the process of saving a Chris Brunt penalty in the Gunners' 3-2 loss to West Bromwich Albion. Following a further setback in training, the Spanish stopper has now been ruled out for a another three weeks.

There has been a lot of speculation that Spanish clubs Atletico Madrid and Malaga are interested in Almunia and the 'keeper has been coy over his Arsenal future.

Both Lukasz Fabianski and Wojciech Szczesny are now regarded to be ahead of Almunia in the pecking order at Arsenal, and Wenger feels that the Spaniard must react to the increased competition for a starting position in a positive way.

"I will listen to Manuel Almunia only," the Arsenal manager told reporters, as quoted by Sky Sports. "We are in a fantastic job, but the core of our job is to fight to be competitive and to fight for your place.

"Nobody can be where we are in such a privileged job and think 'it is a shame we have to compete for our places'. That is the least we can do.

"I am surprised every time a player has to fight for his position that you think straight away he has to leave."

Arsenal have been linked with a move for Manchester City's Shay Given, who has lost his starting place at Eastlands to Joe Hart, but Wenger insists he is happy with the quality available to him.

"We want three goalkeepers at the top level and you have seen on Monday night we had Wojciech who made his debut in the Premier League and we had Fabianski on the bench.

"If something happens to one you need three world-class goalkeepers."