Aaron Ramsdale is feeling bullish about the prospect of increased competition for his place at Arsenal.
Arsenal are on the verge of signing Brentford goalkeeper David Raya for £30 million, as reported by Sam Dean. The Spanish shot-stopper’s arrival at the Emirates Stadium will increase the pressure on the Gunners’ current No. 1, Aaron Ramsdale.
Ramsdale will know that with a top class player like Raya waiting in the wings, he will quickly lose his starting spot if his performance levels drop. The same couldn’t be said when Matt Turner represented the back up option. The American is a decent ‘keeper, but was never of the level to seriously challenge for Ramsdale’s place.
Raya represents a very real threat. The 27-year-old isn’t coming to north London to warm the bench. Arsenal have admired him for a long time and now he will want to oust Ramsdale.
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However, the shirt is Ramsdale’s to lose, and he will give everything he has to keep it, and will back himself to win that particular battle.
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Ramsdale up for the scrap
Speaking to ITV Football, the 25-year-old England international responded to a question about Raya’s impending arrival by saying, “bring it on…nothing comes easy in football…you need to move along, and need to adapt as well yourself. I’ve done it to other people when I’ve moved to clubs so I’m not going to be thinking that it’s never going to happen to me…we’ll fight and we’ll make each other the best versions of ourselves, because that’s what the manager is telling us…the goalkeeping union, people will laugh at, but it’s a real thing…you put the team first.”
Ramsdale is correct to point out that he himself usurped someone else to land his current role at Arsenal. Soon after his arrival at the club he overtook Bernd Leno in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order.
He also points out that Arteta has been clear on what he expects from both him and Raya. They will fight it out, and they will also support each other. Whoever ends up starting the most games this season, they will have the other’s backing throughout the campaign. However, come next summer, the loser of this battle for supremacy between the sticks may well be keen to move on from the Emirates Stadium.