Keeper not yet approached by Gunners speaks of hurt and shame

An African goalkeeper who has yet to hear of any interest in him from Arsenal has spoken of his upset and embarrassment at being the last such safe pair of hands on the planet.

Gambian wizard Odinga Samuels is said by his mother to be one of the most promising netminders to have turned out for his for country in the past two years, contributing to their loss each time.

Speaking to truth-seekers from the British tabloids, Samuels lamented: "All my friends who play in goal over here have been contacted. Even some of them who usually play up front but were knackered and so had a turn in goal to get their breath back. I'm no worse than they are."

Pausing only to wipe the tears of disappointment from his face, Samuels made it clear that he has already had interesting offers from several of the elite squads in Liechtenstein's second division and may choose to move there instead if he hears nothing from Arsenal.

"But whatever's happened, I'm still ready and willing to go to Highbury," maintained Samuels. He later cheerfully posed for photographers in an Arsenal shirt while enthusiastically waving the official Spring 2003 Gunners' away scarf.

Officials at Highbury have, however, sought to reassure Samuels that he has not been forgotten: "We're steadily working our way through a list of every keeper in the world between the ages of 15 and 35. We're using a world ranking off the Internet and Odinga's definitely on it. He's number 7,004 in fact."

Meanwhile, pundits believe that the end result of Arsenal's scouting drive this season will be the same as the previous five — the reappointment of the existing keeper. Yesterday, David Seaman announced that he had signed a new five-year deal with the Gunners and hoped not only to stay with the club until the end of his career but also until the end of his life, if not beyond.

Arsene Wenger expressed his satisfaction with Seaman's performances this year insisting: "David is ze best keeper we have."