- Keeper joined as understudy to German star
- Quickly earned a starting berth for Gunners
- Admits that he still has room for improvement
WHAT HAPPENED? The Gunners moved to bolster their goalkeeping ranks during the summer of 2021 when a £24 million ($27m) transfer was completed with Sheffield United. Ramsdale arrived at Emirates Stadium as understudy to the long-serving Leno, but had made a starting berth his own by mid-September in his debut campaign and has never looked back.
WHAT THEY SAID: Ramsdale has told the ‘Yours, Mine, Away’ podcast of grabbing an unexpected opportunity: “This was Bernd Leno, this is an international goalkeeper who’s been outstanding for the past three years. And it wasn’t his fault that the team were losing games. So it wasn’t just: ‘he’s having a stinker, I’m in’. He was still performing very, very well. And I just had the opportunity to get in. And I knew when I got my chance, I just had to stay there. Some of his saves he’s making, I can’t do that.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Having been nudged down the pecking order in north London, Leno eventually moved on to Fulham during the last transfer window, while Ramsdale is now up to 46 appearances for Arsenal and will be hoping to form part of England’s plans at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR RAMSDALE? The 24-year-old has become a useful option for the Gunners, due to his shot-stopping ability and distribution off the deck, and a positive start to the 2022-23 campaign has Mikel Arteta’s side sat at the top of the Premier League table.