Morning all.
The departures continue with news broken last night that Southampton and Arsenal have found an agreement over the permanent transfer of Aaron Ramsdale. The deal is worth £25m, including add-ons, with the up-front part of the payment just shy of £20m.
It’s quite a bit short of what Arsenal were seeking earlier in the transfer window, but the closer you get to the deadline, the more you need to compromise. It’s still a pretty decent fee for a player whose stock has fallen in the last 12 months. Go back to last May, when Arsenal handed Ramsdale a new contract, and Mikel Arteta said:
We’re all so happy that Aaron has signed a new contract. The way Aaron has developed over the past two years has been exceptional, with his performances, contribution and overall adaptation to the club. We’re all looking forward to enjoying many more years of Aaron the player and the person at the football club.
A few months later and we signed David Raya from Brentford. Since then the writing has been on the wall for Aaron. Perhaps it was faint at first, but as time went by and Raya was established as the first choice, it became very clear that to play regularly, he would need to leave. He’s far too good to play second-fiddle, even at a club like Arsenal, but the question was always about where he would end up.
There was a link to Ajax, talk of Wolves, but in the end it’ll be a return to the south-coast and a big challenge to help Southampton stave off relegation after their return to the Premier League. It’s the kind of environment that might suit him, because I suspect – based on the small sample size we have so far this season – he’s going to be a busy boy. In their last game, for example, Nottingham Forest had 23 shots, and while their two defeats have been by narrow margins, they have 0 points. Early days, of course, but it’ll be a long, gruelling season for the Saints.
I really hope it goes well for him. Like most players, he had his flaws,…
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Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-08-29 06:43:14
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