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Big Mouth ready to strike again
By Leo Spall, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 23.07.03Arsenal are on the verge of replacing Safe Hands with Big Mouth.
Borussia Dortmund's Jens Lehmann has been lined up to succeed goalkeeper David Seaman at Highbury and the German international is known for speaking his mind.
Although the clubs are thought to be more than £1million apart on their valuation - with the German club wanting £2.5m - the 33-year-old has agreed personal terms on a three-year contract worth £40,000 a week and the deal could be done by the weekend.
His arrival would end manager Arsene Wenger's summer-long search for a high-calibre new stopper, but it is unlikely to have a calming effect on the Arsenal dressing-room.
His ability to dominate his penalty area and make mad dashes up the other end trigger comparisons with Peter Schmeichel, only Lehmann is wilder and without the red nose. But his career is littered with moments of madness and runins with team-mates. Although quiet off the pitch, his attitude is frequently confrontational.
Lehmann said: "If I feel like I am being treated unfairly, I will insist on my opinion. I am not an apple polisher who says that things are not that bad in order to make everyone calm down."
The goalkeeper is available partly because Dortmund, like Arsenal, have a lack of resources after committing to £35m worth of stadium improvements, but also thanks to his relationship with understudy Roman Weidenfeller.
Sources in Germany say the pair cannot and will not work together. They both believe they should be first choice and have not been shy in stating their cases. Lehmann, a veteran compared to his highly rated 21-yearold rival, has only one year left on his contract and has been put up for sale before he gets a chance to leave for free. The Arsenal target has also lost out on the international stage and not surprisingly he fell out with his competitor then, too.
Lehmann has long claimed he is good enough to be Germany's No1 but has mainly had to warm the bench for Oliver Kahn.
At the height of the feud, the pair exchanged insults. Lehmann, whose nickname of "1B" stuck after former national coach Erich Ribbeck gave him it, insists he has now grown to "accept and respect" Kahn.
He said: "It was rumoured that we did not relate to each other. That is not the case because both of us are by no means stubborn dumb-heads. We even laugh together."
Lehmann, a part-time student of economics, showed his ability to put his foot in it when he joined Dortmund in 1998 and declared undying love for his former club Schalke 04 - their arch rivals.
Borussia's fans, not surprisingly, made life difficult and he only recently won them round with some great performances.
They may also have taken to his idiosyncrasies on the pitch, but his antics are unlikely to be tolerated by Wenger.
Lehmann was sent off for the fifth time in his career on Monday for bringing down a striker during a League Cup game.
In February his offence was less ordinary. Lehmann ran into midfield to berate team-mate Marcio Amoroso for his defending after they conceded a goal that was later disallowed for offside. When the shoving match ended, the referee gave Lehmann his second yellow card. A year earlier he was banned for four matches after kicking out at an opponent off the ball.
Even the assessment of officials at Dortmund shows why the hot head is also known as a big mouth.
"Lehmann is not the ' snotnose' he was seen as years before and he is not arrogant either. He is humorous and intelligent, but he is not diplomatic," explains the club's website.
Highbury will be all ears.
