Premier League club set to end Ramsdale's Arsenal misery

Stuart Telford

• 26 Nov 2023 09:50 GMT
• 3 min read

Wolves are lining up a January bid for Aaron Ramsdale with the England goalkeeper having fallen behind David Raya in Arsenal's goalkeeper pecking order.

Ramsdale was handed what has become a rare start as Arsenal beat Brentford 1-0 on Saturday, but he likely only played with Raya ineligible against his parent club.

The four-time capped England man had a few hairy moments at the Gtech Community Stadium, with Declan Rice and Oleksandr Zinchenko both clearing shots off the line, but the players mobbed their goalkeeper at full-time.

Was there an element of 'farewell' in the gesture? Well there might have been according to the Daily Star's Alex Wood.

"Wolves are sounding out Arsenal as they eye a January deal for Aaron Ramsdale," he writes. "Current Molineux No.1 Jose Sa is wanted by several Saudi-based clubs and Gary O'Neil is keen to cash in. If Sa [goes], Ramsdale has been earmarked as the top target to replace him…"

Loan now, transfer later

Sa is valued at €17.5 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, but it is understood Wolves want around twice that amount to part with the Portuguese.

Such an amount might fund a permanent deal for the €37.2m-rated Ramsdale, but it is understood Wolves would only look for a loan deal until the end of the season before making the move permanent then.

Mikel Arteta had encouraging words for Ramsdale after the Brentford game in any case, relieved to see his side go top with their sixth clean sheet of the season.

"Courage. He has big courage and big personality and that's what we need," he told reporters after the game.

"This is football. I'm so happy with the team. The way the team performed with the clean sheet. [Now] we move on."