- 21 hours ago
Arteta convinces out-of-favour Arsenal goalkeeper to stay
Jacque Talbot
- Updated: 18 Jun 2024 14:45 BST
- 5 min read
Arsenal’s Karl Hein is set to sign a new contract with the club after Mikel Arteta convinced him to stay.
The Estonian international will remain at the Emirates beyond this summer, even though the goalkeeper was expected to leave.
The 22-year-old will now sign a new contract imminently, according to reports. Hein is relatively inexperienced at club level, and so will leave on a temporary basis to further his development.
He was on Arsenal’s list of players out of contract this summer, but now a report in The Athletic states that they have convinced him to sign a fresh deal before the end of June.
The shot-stopper will now speak to various clubs over a proposed loan deal.
Hein has 30 caps with Estonia but has only played one competitive game for the Gunners, featuring against Brighton in the Carabao Cup third round in November 2022. He spent the second half of that season on loan in the Championship with Reading but made just five appearances.
Hein started his youth career with JK Loo at the age of eight before transferring to Nomme United's youth team in 2015. He made five senior appearances for the in the Estonian third tier, before moving to the Gunner’s academy in 2018.
Aaron Ramsdale's future remains uncertain
Question marks remain about Aaron Ramsdale’s future, however. The England international has already admitted he does not want to replicate a season like the one just gone, being second-choice to Arsenal No.1 David Raya.
The Spaniard is expected to make his loan move from Brentford permanent this summer, in a £27million transfer.
Ramsdale said via TalkSport: "No footballer wants to not play,” he said. "I’ve had a tough year personally not playing and I never want to do that again. It was tough, it was tough.
"But I have my release now, I’m now here, I’ve got the greatest honour, the greatest badge on my chest, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if I play a minute or no minutes, it will be the pinnacle for me, the best day ever."
