Matt Macey is in talks with Hibernian about a January move.
The looked set to leave Arsenal in the summer but was retained as the dust settled on Emi Martinez’s move to Aston Villa.
Having fallen behind Alex Runarsson in the pecking order, the 26-year-old has had to settle for minutes in Premier League 2 and the EFL Trophy.
Arsenal keeper Matt Macey set to join Hibs. Medical planned for later today.
— Sami Mokbel (@SamiMokbel81_DM) January 6, 2021
Macey joined the Gunners from Bristol Rovers in 2011 and has been out on loan three times to Accrington Stanley, Luton and Plymouth.
He featured twice for the first team during Arsene Wenger’s tenure, making his debut against Norwich in the EFL Cup in October 2017. A month later he kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Red Star Belgrade in the Europa League at the Emirates.
We think this is going to be a loan move for the rest of the season which means Macey will become a free agent in the summer. In his place, we’re assuming Mikel Arteta will promote one of the youth team keepers, possibly Karl Hein or Arthur Okonkwo.
I am hoping this is so we can get a back up keeper and have Alex Runarsson as number three. He doesn’t look like he’s quite there yet to be a number two.
I wouldn’t even have him as a third choice.
For Harlow Town, maybe. But not Arsenal.
Delighted to see my home town get a mention.
Personally he’s not good enough to be a keeper at Arsenal at all.
Karl Hein is a promising young goal keeper, maybe he should be given a chance and Runarsson isn’t good enough for elite level.
Oh he’s a number 2 for sure.
I say let’s give Hein a bit of game time next season. If he’s good enough for international football…
I’d love it if Hein would be good for us. But Estonia was (probably) relegated to Division D in the Nations League this year… 😬
They do have 10 outfield players that may have played at least some role in those poor performances…maybe?! 😉
Hein is quality, and Akwonkwo also. Both are young, but have the talent. This is another situation where it seems we would rather protect youth than go down the route of “if they’re good enough, they’re old enough”. From researching and following both (big fan of both young goalies) they are both better than Runner son of Runner. I predict Hein will be slightly better than Akwonkwo, but it’s a toss-up. Should be #2a and #2b, respectively IMO.
It is Okonkwo btw
Why did we sign 25 yo runarsson instead of giving him a shot like Martinez after 10 years. Are we being run like a proper club?
In a word, no.
I rate this guy more than Runarsson, who at the moment is looking like the Goalkeeper Federation’s answer to Mustafi.
We’ve already shipped out one perfectly good ‘keeper recently. It therefore wouldn’t come as any surprise me in the least to see Edu and Arteta ship out another.
I wondered just a few days ago, ”just how bad is Macey, if Runarsson is ahead of him?”
I hope he has a good season up there. At least he’s a tall goalie.
He must be pretty crap if he cant dislodge Runarsson who is really bad.
The keeper situation at Arsenal is farcical. We’re one injury away from playing someone with the build and presence of an awkward teenager who’d not managed to hold down a starting position at Dijon for two seasons.
Best of luck Macey..
Will Okonkwo or Hein be promoted to Nr2 now?
Yes I wrote 2.
Does this effect our home grown quota much? I thought we were already short
Can’t believe Runnarson is ahead of this guy. How bad can he be? Or how blind (or biased) can our first team coaching crew be?😕
Well said.
Maybe the Runarsson vs Macey scenario has something to do with this obsession with goalkeepers being good with the ball at their feet so it could be that Macey is more like Petr Cech in that regard? Runarsson is quite good with the ball at his feet, his issue is with his hands….
Arsenal, the club that prioritises goalies’ foot skillz over hand skillz.
Being good with the ball at your feet is no good if the ball is in your net.
What a mistake.
We gain NOTHING by letting Macey go. It will only prove what an error Runnarson is.
– We should keep Macey, let him play cup games.
– Allow Hein/Okonkwo to play in Macey’s place on occasion and gradually take over.
– Get rid of Runarsson.
The only reason this isn’t happening is someone trying to save face that Runarsson wasn’t a complete waste of money.
Cut nose, spite face.
How the fuck has Macey “fallen behind Alex Runarsson in the pecking order” when Runnarson is demonstrably not remotely Premier League quality?
If he’s really that bad, how has he remained at the club for so long?
Or is the pecking order based on something other than performance?
The pecking order, like any organisation, is largely determined by whether your face fits (in my experience). What we used to call in our company: FIFO .. Fit in or fuck off.
Arsenal put the cart before the horse when selling Martinez before bringing in a new keeper. After Martinez was sold they then tried to buy the Brentford keeper David Raya for £10M but were turned down. That left them scratching around at the last minute with one of Arteta’s coaches mentioning Runarsson with whom he’d worked. This would have demonstrated to Macey he had no future.