Arsenal star has ‘lost that smile’ amid ‘difficult’ £27m Arteta decision

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Aaron Ramsdale’s father, Nick Ramsdale, has now opened up about the experience of seeing his son lose his starting place at Arsenal.

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale slipped down the pecking order earlier this season, shortly after the arrival of David Raya.

Raya joined the north London club in the summer transfer window, on a season-long loan deal from Brentford. However, the Gunners are expected to pay £27 million to make the Spanish shot-stopper’s switch to the Emirates Stadium a permanent one.

Having established himself as the Arsenal No. 1 last season, and become a firm fan favourite, Ramsdale will of course be devastated to now find himself on the bench on a weekly basis. 

It was certainly a ruthless call from Mikel Arteta to cut the England man from the regular starting XI. After all, Ramsdale was generally very impressive for the club last season, and only recently signed a new long-term contract at Arsenal.

The 25-year-old has already spoken out about how losing his Arsenal place has hurt him.

Now his father, Nick, has given a greater insight into what the goalkeeper is going through.

Aaron Ramsdale under a cloud at Arsenal

Speaking on The Highbury Squad, he said, “Aaron’s lost that smile to when he was holding onto that ball at this moment in time…And it is difficult. It really is difficult to see him there and we all keep saying you need to keep smiling.”

“It’s possibly the way it’s been done. Not knowing the reason why, and this is me because we don’t know why. Again, Aaron is working as hard as he can. He’s trying to do his best for the squad. He’s upbeat and he’ll do everything for Arsenal to try and win the league.”

When asked if he or his son knew that this demotion was coming in the summer, he admitted, “no, we did not have a clue, I didn’t have a clue, our family didn’t have a clue, Aaron didn’t have a clue that he was not going to carry on playing.”

At this stage in his career, Ramsdale needs to be playing regular football. He will not have given up hope of getting his starting berth at Arsenal back, but his future at the club is now very much in doubt. Certainly, he can’t afford to be a back-up option for long if he is to remain in the international setup reckoning.

In the meantime, though, all he can do is work as hard as possible in training, push to impress Arteta, and ensure that he is ready to shine when called upon.