As above. He’s a free agent. Still in the country since his release from Chelsea in the summer, has been training with AFC Wimbledon close to home in order to keep his fitness up.
Southampton set to sign free agent Willy Caballero after goalkeeper injury crisis By Dan Sheldon and Simon Johnson 5 December 2021Updated 22:21 GMT please log in to view this image Southampton are set to sign Willy Caballero on a short-term deal. The former Manchester City and Chelsea goalkeeper has been without a club since the summer and will join the St Mary’s side as a free agent. Both Alex McCarthy and Fraser Forster are injured and the club’s only alternative was to deploy Harry Lewis in goal against Arsenal. But they couldn’t afford to go into a run of key matches with only one goalkeeper, which is why they moved for Caballero. The 40-year-old Argentine has been training with AFC Wimbledon to keep himself fit and key figures at the club acted quickly to wrap up a deal on Sunday. Caballero was keen to join as soon as he heard about the opportunity and one of the key attractions for Southampton was that his style will fit into the club’s goalkeeping playbook. McCarthy sustained a hamstring issue during the 1-1 draw against Brighton on Saturday, with Fraser Forster left out of the squad due to a muscle problem. (Photo: Manu Fernandez - Pool/Getty Images) Why did Hasenhuttl criticise McCarthy? The Austrian was extremely critical of McCarthy after Brighton’s Neal Maupay scored a 98th-minute equaliser to snatch a point against Southampton. “This is why we couldn’t play out (from the back) in the second half, but I didn’t know how tough it (the injury) was,” Hasenhuttl said. “I thought he only couldn’t play the long ball, so I kept him in goal. If I would do it again, I would change it. But I couldn’t because I didn’t have the message. “This is something we cannot accept. There must be a message, and then we can make a change. I still had one change in hand, and I can change the goalkeeper if necessary. Alex must be more professional, and this is what I missed today.” What is Caballero’s reputation? A back-up keeper for almost the entirety of his time in England, save for a short spell replacing Joe Hart at City, Caballero has nonetheless won a reputation as a dependable shot-stopper. He brings extensive experience, and started several games for Chelsea as recently as 2019-20 when Kepa Arrizabalaga suffered a slump in form. While there have been some doubts about the accuracy of his long kicking throughout his career, particularly by former manager Pep Guardiola, it’s difficult to see where Southampton could have found a higher quality option for any lower cost.
Smart and necessary move. Glad to see we are moving swiftly with this as January is still 5 or 6 games away.
What do they mean “fit into the club’s goalkeeping playbook”. Anyone got any guesses ? I do wonder just how short term a deal this is. And if there is any chance of a proper signing in January. I assume not as we really don’t want to rush that one. But it depends on how long both the others are out for. The Forster one is shrouded in mystery right now Although having said that about a new permanent goalkeeper I would like to think we already have a sizeable shortlist that have been thoroughly scouted
Just checked an Harry Lewis is also out of contract in the summer. So will the current B team keeper be third choice keeper next year ? Or could that now be Caballero? I assume his wages are higher than we will budget for a third choice
So arguably more suited to that than either of the two we have. I imagine his distribution is better than both of our current keepers as well
Between and untested u23 keeper and a battle worn 40 year old I'll take the latter for short term cover.
I like a keeper with a bit of character Who could ever forget Bruce Grobbelaar’s little stay with us? And how about Boruc and his legendary parties ... and dribbling skills Admittedly you get both good and bad, but never mediocre or boring
I would think he is on his way out. 23 years old, 3rd choice but not trusted to step up when numbers 1&2 are injured.