WENGER TO GIVE OSPINA THE GLOVES OVER CECH

ARSENE WENGER will take a huge gamble by playing his second-choice goalkeeper David Ospina against Chelsea. The Colombian will play at Wembley instead of first-choice Petr Cech, who trained yesterday after fitness doubts. The decision comes as even more of a surprise after it emerged last night that defender Shkodran Mustafi was losing his battle to be available for the final. Arsenal were already without suspended centre-half Laurent Koscielny and crock Gabriel. Cech’s experience could have been crucial but, barring a last-minute change of heart or injury, Wenger will keep his promise to Ospina after making him his ‘cup keeper’ this season. Ospina has made 13 appearances and all but two in the Champions League or FA Cup. Cech started the quarter-final and semifinal when Ospina was injured and was expected to play against his old club, given the importance of the game. But Ospina will play his final game before joining Turkish club Fenerbahce for £5million. Despite training yesterday, Mustafi looks set to miss out as he recovers from concussion suffered against Sunderland on May 16. It is understood the Gunners have tried to seek clearance for him to play today after his return to training. But medical protocol around head injuries is likely to see the German defender sit it out. That means Per Mertesacker is poised to start his first game of the season. The German club captain has played just 37 minutes of football. If Wenger continues with a back-three, Mertesacker will play alongside rookie Rob Holding and Nacho Monreal — who is a left-back by trade. Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will fight it out to fill Monreal’s left wing-back slot. Wenger, meanwhile, has described the years following the move to the Emirates as the ‘most difficult period of my life’. Arsenal left Highbury to move in to the newly-built stadium for the 2006-07 season. But the costs associated with building it meant the Gunners operated under serious financial constraints and went without a major trophy in their new home until the 2014 FA Cup. ‘In 2006 we had to pay back a lot of money,’ he said. ‘We had to sell our best players and stay at the top. It was £4,000a-seat and you multiply that by 60,000, it’s £240m. Plus all the businesses we had to buy out, so we went for over £420m.’