Last season, Arsenal were just a few points away from the Premier League title after being in the lead for most of the season. A feat that the Gunners were able to achieve with the help of a great Aaron Ramsdale in goal. Imperial, the English goalkeeper had completed a high-quality exercise which should guarantee him a starting place for several years with the north London club. Ultimately, his future plans were reshuffled following Mikel Arteta’s desire to bring back David Raya in order to compete with him. A duel which turns to the advantage of the Spanish goalkeeper who obtains the favors of his compatriot. Obviously, it’s the soup of grimaces within the Ramsdale clan. The father of the English goalkeeper also reacted in a podcast called the Highbury Squad. The latter thus recounts how his son is having a hard time with this situation: “Aaron lost that smile. And it’s hard to see it there. We keep saying, “you have to keep smiling.” And right now, we don’t have that smile in him. David Raya is an excellent goalkeeper and it’s not his fault. He just arrived as a goalkeeper. It’s like when Aaron came and Bernd Leno was there. Aaron says Raya is a lovely guy and works hard with him. Aaron tries to help integrate into the team as much as he can. Perhaps this is how it was done, without knowing why.»
Subsequently, the father of the English international (4 selections) settled his scores with Mikel Arteta who would not have been clear in this story according to the words of the person concerned: “My only problem is that when I spoke to Mr Arteta on the phone before signing Aaron, he said he wanted Aaron. But now David Raya is back on the market and he had David Raya. I don’t know. Aaron has just signed a new three or four year contract with a 12 month option. It’s true, I’m not telling stories. This is purely me: why would you extend the contract of a goalkeeper or any player and then bring in a competitor two or three months later. Aaron has to live with it and he lives with it even though they haven’t told him. You have to give this guy a chance, for God’s sake. Even though the way it was done was wrong, in my opinion, that’s the decision.” The least we can say is that the management of goalkeepers at the Gunners is causing talk on the other side of the Channel.
