Arsenal have finalized the signing of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale from championship club Sheffield United for £ 24million plus add-ons.
Ramsdale made the England squad at Euro 2020 after Dean Henderson had to retire with injury, although it was Jordan Pickford who played every minute of the Three Lions campaign.
The 23-year-old joined Sheffield United in 2020 after losing Bournemouth but suffered a back-to-back Premier League relegation as the Blades finished low last season.
However, Mikel Arteta sees Ramsdale as real competition for Bernd Leno, and possibly a long-term replacement for the Germany international as well.
Ramsdale was ruled out of the Blades squad for Wednesday’s game against West Brom. Slavisa Jokanovic had previously insisted Ramsdale was not for sale, although ahead of the Baggies game he acknowledged that a deal could be reached if the club’s valuation was met.
Arsenal confirmed on their official website on Friday that they have signed a long-term deal at the Emirates Stadium, which is expected to last until the end of 2024-25, with costs expected to reach £ 30million if the ‘performance-based addition – we’re happy with that.
The Gunners, who lost their season opener to newly promoted Brentford, have now signed five total signings this window, with Ramsdale joining Ben White, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares and playmaker Martin Odegaard, whose transfer from Real Madrid has been made. permanent on Friday.
IS RAMSDALE THE RIGHT FIT?
Ramsdale conceded 63 goals in 38 league appearances last season, the third biggest in the league behind Vicente Guaita (64) of Crystal Palace and Sam Johnstone (74) of West Brom.
In total, Ramsdale faced 546 shots on his goal (including blocks), with only Johnstone (579) facing more.
Ramsdale made 147 saves, the second in the competition – again behind Johnstone (166) – registering a save percentage of 69.86%, above the average of 69.01%.
Leno, Arsenal’s current first-choice goalkeeper, ended the season with a save percentage of 69.42, with the former Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper stopping 86 attempts in total. He made a mistake leading to a goal, compared to Ramsdale’s two.
A key facet of Arsenal’s play under Arteta has been their intention to play from behind, a tactic that hasn’t always paid off.
In a more direct style of play at Sheffield United, Ramsdale attempted 1,019 passes – ranking fifth in the league for goalkeepers – despite his 43.38% completion rate being the second worst of all the scorers to play more than 20 games.
Ramsdale was only slightly better when it comes to passing passes in his own half, making 76.78% of those attempts, far behind Leno’s 94.27%, while the German had an overall accuracy of 76, 83%.
The numbers suggest Ramsdale might do well when it comes to stopping shots, if he doesn’t represent a slight improvement over Leno, although if Arteta insists on a possession game then there is a lot of work to do.
