Why is Johan Djourou still in the Arsenal squad?

Johan Djourou

As I lay awake last night, tossing and turning, I couldn’t help but be mortified by a few prospects that stood before us. Agreed, the transfer market has been great for Arsenal so far but there still remains certain fears regarding our squad that keep eating at me. One name in particular, Johan Djourou still finds a neat, albeit number-less spot on the Arsenal squad sheet and no matter who we sign troubles me that we may somehow end up with the Swiss international for yet another season.

Johan Djourou and Arsenal over the years

Since he was shipped out on loan to Hannover in 2013, Arsenal fans have become accustomed to not finding the once promising centre back anywhere around the Emirates. Indeed the Per-Kos pairing has come as a relief to many. The foundations of a strong back line that can only be improved on. A decent time then with Hannover helped Djourou make his move to Hamburg with a buy option at the end of the 2013/14 season. He certainly seemed like he was on his way out when Hamburg manager Mirko Slomka announced they’re handing him a contract.

So then why is he still here? Not to seem to rude towards a player who gave it his all while at Arsenal but sadly his all wasn’t enough and having him on this side just makes me a little uncomfortable, bringing back memories of a side that looked something like this:

Whoops.

The curious case of Johan Djourou

Now the odd part is Djourou finds his name on both the Arsenal and Hamburg website with the only possible explanation being it somehow relates to Thomas Vermaelen maybe leaving and Wenger holding back from finalising his move before he finds adequate replacements. Somewhat reminiscent of how we were stuck with Nik “The Cab Humper” Bendtner last season. Which can also explain why they haven’t clicked a picture of him in the new kit. Honestly sometimes getting rid of players just seems like a game of Russian Roulette with the gun always coming back to point at us.

To be fair, Johan Djourou did have a fairly decent World Cup with the Swiss. He started every game, he played every minute of their 4 game run in the World Cup including a shambolic performance against France (Where he did pair up with our old friend Senderos) and a truly valiant performance against Argentina, keeping Messi and co quiet for almost a 111 minutes.

But I wouldn’t take that as a sign of change. Having Djourou back would be a massive gamble and almost like taking 2 steps forward and a massive somersault back. Not to mention the Djourou-Giroud pronunciation guffaws. For everyone’s sake, I hope this is sorted out quickly. By the end of this post would be great Arsene!

Till then I leave you to enjoy what to me still remains as his finest moment ever in Red and White.