Arsenal Transfers: 5 Alternatives To £10m Victor Valdes

3. Marc Andre Ter-Stegen €“ Gladbach

Already a German international, with two full top flight seasons behind him at the tender age of 20, the Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper is the left-field option. At such a young age, he would either be competing with or replacing Szczesney, and it is hard to predict how two relatively inexperienced goalkeepers would deal with the competition. Equally coming from overseas, the risks of struggling to adapt would be just as great as with Valdes. On the other hand, the potential rewards are great. Comparisons with his childhood Idol, Oliver Kahn, don't appear to be wide of the mark, both in terms of style and temperament. Like the former Bayern hero, he is a very vocal organiser of his defence, and is fearless on crosses and coming out for one-on-ones. He has been central in his teams rapid progression from bottom of the Bundesliga to the Champion's League playoffs in under 18 months, and has shown an aptitude for stepping up in big games. In short, he is probably the highest rated under-21 goalkeeper in the world. Of course, no-one can be entirely sure of his future development, but he seems as close to a 'sure thing' as you can get. Accordingly, he wouldn't come cheap, but Monchengladbach are essentially a selling club due to their lack of financial muscle, and his wages would probably be at the lower end of the Arsenal Transfer Structure.