- 16 hours ago
Arteta sends Ramsdale message amid fresh Arsenal exit links
Tom Weber
- Updated: 8 Mar 2024 20:52 GMT
- 3 min read
With David Raya ineligible to face his parent club, Aaron Ramsdale is set for a rare Arsenal start.
The England goalkeeper has lost his place to the Brentford-owned Spaniard this season, now mainly deputising in cup competitions despite doing brilliantly last term. Ramsdale, naturally, is not happy about this and exit rumours have been swirling around for months.
Linked with Chelsea and now also Newcastle, Ramsdale's future is up in the air. Indeed, FootballTransfers has exclusively revealed that the Gunners have begun looking at Ajax shot-stopper Diant Ramaj as a potential replacement for the 25-year-old.
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David Raya's loan from Brentford will become permanent at the end of the season, meaning that Ramsdale must leave if he wants to be a Premier League number one again. With the Gunners facing the Bees on Saturday, he will have the chance to impress, but Mikel Arteta played down suggestions that he could win back his place long-term.
Arteta on Ramsdale
Speaking ahead of the game, the head coach gave Ramsdale a vote of confidence but insisted that one good performance won't cause him to suddenly change his first-choice lineup. "He's been brilliant," Arteta said of Ramsdale. "He's been really supportive and pushing in training every day like I expected. It's a joy to have two top goalkeepers in the team."
"We don't have that kind of conversation with players. Not with Aaron or any other player on the pitch where we say 'play today and you have the opportunity to play next week.' That doesn’t happen. One of the toughest things is dealing with the players that don't have the game time they deserve. Not only Aaron, but there are many of those."
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"We have an unbelievable group of players. We try to be straight, explain things, be close to them and give them support. Then when they have the opportunity, they want to contribute to the team in the best possible way. That's what Aaron will want to do on Saturday."
