Arsenal have mirrored one of Man United’s best ever transfers

After what seemed like an age, Petr Cech finally completed his move across London when he signed for Arsenal earlier this week. The Chelsea legend cost the Gunners around £11m and brings a wealth of experience gained during a trophy-laden spell at Stamford Bridge.

Signing Cech is exactly the short-term ruthlessness Arsenal have been craving for so long. No longer worried about the development of Wojciech Szczesny, or how David Ospina might fare having settled in for a year, Wenger has paid over ten million pounds for a 33-year-old. The mentality behind it is what winners are made of, as proved by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ten years ago, Fergie took Edwin van der Sar from Fulham for what now seems a steal, with a reported fee of £2m putting the Dutchman between the sticks at Old Trafford. Perhaps not the most sound financial business for a ‘keeper then well into his 30s, but the player himself proved that age is just a number time and time again.

The purchase of Van der Sar finally put an end to the desperate attempts to replace the Great Dane, Peter Schmeichel. Already a Champions League winner from his time with Ajax, Sir Alex knew he was buying success. And success is what he got.

Four Premier League titles followed, with the stopper breaking the Premier League record for consecutive clean sheets along the way. The success story hit its highest peak when Van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka’s penalty in the famous 2008 Champions League final, winning the trophy for the Red Devils.

Could Arsenal’s capture of Cech lead to similar success? The glove seems to fit. The parallels in this signing and Sir Alex’s stroke of genius are striking. Like Manchester United a decade ago, it seems Arsenal are finally addressing their ‘keeping conundrum. Just as Schmeichel proved nigh on impossible to replace, the Gunners have found it notoriously difficult to replace their own iconic shot stopper, David Seaman. Jens Lehmann might argue with that, though.

Arsenal are also buying a proven winner. Cech’s stoic performances in West London rightly earned him the right to call himself the best ‘keeper in the world. Though ageing, his heroics in the 2012 Champions League final can’t be so quickly forgotten. Only the emergence of Thibaut Courtios, an exceptional ‘keeper with age on his side, could keep Cech from being the undisputed No. 1 at Stamford Bridge for many more years to come.

Wenger himself may have looked to the Van der Sar deal as a precedent. Signing a European Cup winner the wrong side of 30 to improve your squad in the (relative) short-term is the complete opposite to his entire philosophy during the eight barren years spanning from the 2005 FA Cup win to the 2014 repeat.

The Arsenal boss is now buying success rather than potential, an approach the Gunners have desperately needed for many a year now. The Cech signing has the potential to replicate the van der Sar deal near enough a decade its previous. Whilst Wenger before may have recruited an obscure teenager from God knows where, he has pulled off perhaps the biggest transfer coup in ten years.

This ‘keeper holds the key to success.