The transfer window continues today with the announcement that the Matt Macey, Arsenal’s 26-year-old keeper, is a confirmed Hibernian player and is joining the Scottish Premiership.
Coming into this season, there was a general consensus that Macey’s future lie outside of Arsenal. He has featured on Arsenal’s bench, even collecting himself an FA Cup medal, but only managed to get 2 first team appearances.
Along the way, he would be loaned out on multiple occasions, never really finding his footing. He has stood out as Arsenal’s third-choice stopper for many years, more recently being behind Emi Martinez and now Runar Alex Runarsson, but knew his time to branch out permanently was coming.
According to Macey, teammate and past-SPFL star Kieran Tierney played a role in the decision to move to Hibernian.
“I spoke to Kieran at length about Hibs, Scottish football, and the country in general.
“He was really positive about every aspect of it, whether it was the club or Edinburgh itself. I was already keen to come but it was good to hear him talk so enthusiastically about it all. He backed up the gut feeling I had.”
In an interview on Hibs’ website, Hibernian Head Coach Jack Ross said had this to say about Macey’s signing: “We are delighted to be able to bring a goalkeeper of Matt’s calibre to the club and I’m looking forward to seeing him challenge Ofir and Kevin for a place in the team.
“It provides us with real strength in depth in the goalkeeping department as we build towards the second half of the season.”
Macey will have his work cut for him as he competes with two other shot-stoppers for the role. Ofir Marciano and Kevin Dabrowski currently make up the depth chart, but Macey will look to carve out his own spot.
“I’m grateful for every experience I had at Arsenal,” said Macey, “but I’m hungry to play first-team football. I know that won’t be handed to me here, so it’s up to me to show what I can do in training and take it from there.”
Best of luck Matt!
Gunner Thoughts 