A former Arsenal player has revealed that he now regrets leaving the North London club so prematurely.
The Gunners have had a number of players who have left after short stints in N5 and then gone on to later express regret over this.
The likes of Alexis Sanchez and Alex Hleb have departed the Emirates in the past, believing the grass would be greener elsewhere, before publicly revealing that they shouldn’t have made that decision in the first place.
A more recent star who played under Mikel Arteta has now joined that camp.
Matt Turner says he should’ve been more patient before leaving Arsenal
Arsenal signed Matt Turner in the summer of 2022 for £7 million.
The American goalkeeper was brought in as a replacement for Bernd Leno, to deputise for Aaron Ramsdale in between the sticks.
Making just seven appearances across all competitions for the Gunners in the 2022/23 season, none of which came in the Premier League, Turner then left for Nottingham Forest in the pursuit of more regular playing time.
Speaking on the Major League Soccer YouTube channel, the shot-stopper revealed that he should’ve been more patient and remained at Arsenal for a longer period of time.
“The move to Forest wasn’t the perfect situation,” he said.
“They didn’t buy me as a number one; they were buying me to compete, and maybe I should’ve been a bit more patient when I was at Arsenal.
“But hindsight is 20/20. The Prem is legit, dude, it’s unrelenting and unforgiving, and I learned quickly.”
Spending a season at Forest, where he made 20 appearances across all competitions, Turner then made another switch, this time to Crystal Palace, last summer.
Playing four times for the Eagles, and claiming an FA Cup winners medal in the process, he then made another move in the most recent transfer window, signing for Lyon before returning to New England Revolution on loan.
Matt Turner wasn’t long for Arsenal anyway
In the summer of 2023, Arteta decided he wanted to make a major change in goal.
The Spaniard opted to sign David Raya, who immediately replaced fan favourite Ramsdale, with this decision met with serious backlash.
However, Raya has now been rewarded with a new contract after two excellent years in North London, where he’s arguably established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Arteta likely would’ve made the decision to upgrade on Ramsdale by signing Raya regardless of Turner’s future.
Thus, the United States’ number one most likely would’ve been pushed aside whether he liked it or not, and his move to Forest was therefore entirely justifiable.
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