Besiktas leading the race to sign Arsenal's £40,000-a-week goalkeeper

Turkish heavyweights David Ospina are reportedly leading the hunt to sign David Ospina from Arsenal before the end of the month. The Colombia international has served as the deputy goalkeeper to Petr Cech over the past three seasons but his position has changed with the summer arrival of Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen.
According to Sky Sports News, the former Turkish champions are deemed favourites to sign the Colombian, who has literally become the third-choice shot-stopper at the Emirates Stadium.
Ospina was initially linked with an Emirates exit during the summer of 2017 but back then, he was convinced to stay by ex-boss Arsene Wenger with the promise that he would remain the regular for the Cup and European competitions.
However, with a new head coach in Unai Emery at the helm, he has dropped down the pecking order and he has now been offered the option to leave the English capital before the transfer window closes across Europe.
At present, Besiktas are said to be in no hurry to pursue the former Nice man but Sky Sports reports that they may meet a potential stumbling block in signing the experienced shot-stopper.
As per the report, the north London giants are only understood to prefer a permanent sale for the Colombia and this could potentially hamper Besiktas’ prospects of signing the 29-year-old.
In the past, the Gunners have been content to offload players with the obligation to buy at the end of the campaign and the same condition does not seem to lie with Ospina with Emery urged to reduce the wage bill at the club.
Arsenal’s wage bill has exceeded £200m for the first time in their history after a record deal for Mesut Ozil alongside several big-money arrivals and Emery has been tasked with the job of retrieving some finances by sanctioning deals for fringe players.
Ospina presently has two years remaining on his relatively median salary of around £40,000-a-week and he could be among many other players including Carl Jenkinson and Joel Campbell making way before the conclusion of the month.