Santos turned down Galatasaray move
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at 3:03 AM | by Jack Johnson 
So close Arsenal fans, so close. According to the Daily Mirror the Gunners had accepted an offer from Turkish side Galatasaray for ‘defender’ Andre Santos towards the end of the January transfer window. Unfortunately for Arsene Wenger, Santos turned down the move to stay and fight for his place.
With new signing Nacho Monreal surely now ahead of the Brazilian in the fight for the left back spot, and Keiron Gibbs generally preferred when fit this seems like something of an unrealistic goal on Santos’ part. Still, I guess you can’t knock his optimism. Santos has had a rather rough ride this season with several high profile defensive lapses slowly destroying his reputation as a defender and leading Arsenal fans to bemoan his inclusion on match day.
Apparently Galatasaray will come back in for Santos in the summer and unless he has miraculously forced his way into Wenger’s plans by then it seems the 29-year-old will finally quit the Emirates.
One other reason Santos may have decided to extend his stay in London though is the realisation that he is the only left back available to play against Bayern Munich in Arsenal’s upcoming Champions League clash.
With Gibbs out injured for the foreseeable future and Monreal cup tied Santos will probably be required to occupy the left side of defence. He’ll more than likely be up against Arjen Robben or Thomas Muller. Good luck with that.
Jack Johnson
Reader Comments (2)
At best he's he's 4th choice at LB. I would expect Wenger to start Vermaelen at LB with Koscielny and Mertesacker through the middle. If Vermaelen is injured I'd bet on Sagna taking the LB slot with Jenkinson starting at RB.
though a quality player, santos is just not made for the premiership, he doesn't possess the physical, positional and tactical attributes to succeed, was a big mistake on the part of the scout who should have looked at all these b4 recommending him