Like plenty of things involving Inter, Julio Cesar’s form deteriorated once Jose Mourinho made his exit and left to Real Madrid. Now it seems the Brazilian goalkeeper, once to be considered as the best in the world by some, has no future with the club he’s been with for 7 seasons, getting teams like Arsenal and Tottenham to show some interest.
It’s not just Cesar’s falling form over the last couple of seasons that is showing him the way out. Inter went out and signed Slovenian goalkeeper, Samir Handanovic, 28 year old from Udinese, probably for the starting role, leaving Cesar in quite a lot of doubt. With Lucio also being released to Juventus, it’s seems like it’s about cleaning house from all the old folks who no longer can win titles.
Julio Cesar won five league titles with Inter and under Jose Mourinho was voted as the Serie A’s best goalkeeper twice. However, over the last couple of seasons, at his fault and also because of the flailing defense, he looked nothing like the unbeatable machine he sometimes resembled during the ‘good ‘ol days’.
At first it was thought Cesar would make a move in Italy, possibly for free, but when you’ve got richer pockets like the one’s Arsenal and Tottenham have snooping around, there’s no reason not to get some money out of it. Still, looking at the Lucio and Diego Forlan situation, it would be reasonable to think anyone who wants Cesar won’t be in to forking a lot of cash.
Both Arsenal and Tottenham have clear needs of a top class goalkeeper. Brad Freidel is 41 years old, and while rather consistent, doesn’t bring something special to the table anymore. Arsenal have pretty much settled for Wojciech Szczesny, who has really shown improvement in 2012-2013 but still doesn’t seem like the kind of keeper a club with the highest aspirations should have. It’s debatable if Arsenal are the kind of club with the highest kind of aspirations, mind you, but they’re still looking.
It’s not that Cesar is the best option for both teams. At 32, which isn’t exactly old for goalkeepers, Cesar’s tired form of the last couple of seasons doesn’t make him such an attractive transfer target as some might think he’ll be thanks to his impressive resume and record, especially considering the fact that his wages will take a considerable share of any wage bill.
Both Arsenal and Tottenham would love to land Lyon’s Hugo Lloris, but that would of course become a much more costly affair, as Lloris is one of the best keepers in the world at the moment, and would cost accordingly.