Fabrizio Romano confirms Arsenal deal for Ramsdale replacement

Carlo Garganese

• 20 Aug 2024 07:48 BST
• 3 min read

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

As revealed by FootballTransfers and reiterated by David Ornstein and now Fabrizio Romano, the top target to replace Ramsdale as Arsenal’s backup goalkeeper is Garcia.

This is something of eyebrow-raising signing as the Spaniard only won a starting berth in the second half of the previous LaLiga 2 season as the Barcelona outfit won promotion.

READ MORE: Merino takes matters into his own hands as Arsenal get transfer timeline

Nevertheless, Garcia has been hand-picked by Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have now agreed terms with the 23-year-old.

Espanyol are aware of the interest, says Romano, but have not yet received an official bid.

That will arrive once Arsenal offload Ramsdale, and it’s not expected there will be any problem in Espanyol agreeing a deal with the Gunners.

After loaning Karl Hein to Real Valladolid, Arsenal would be left without a senior backup to first-choice goalkeeper David Raya should Ramsdale leave, hence the move for Garcia.

Ramsdale to leave Arsenal

Ramsdale is desperate to leave the Emirates after being replaced by Brentford loanee David Raya as Arsenal’s number one last season.

The Spaniard's transfer was made permanent this summer, so Ramsdale's prospects of minutes look slim.

This point has become all the more evident in pre-season with Ramsdale not featuring in the friendlies leading up to Arsenal's season opener against Wolves on Saturday.

Raya started and impressed in that game with a brilliant save at 1-0.

Ramsdale has no shortage of suitors and Arsenal won't stand in his way, but they will only do business on their terms. The Gunners want to offload Ramsdale permanently and at the right price.

It is widely accepted that Ramsdale will eventually leave Arsenal by the end of the summer, with Garcia indeed coming in to replace him.