Other than the 17 year old left back Lino Sousa, our only senior signing that has been confirmed is the arrival of the USA international keeper Matt Turner, who kept another clean sheet for his country on the same day that it was revealed he had agreed to move to the Emirates in the summer.
At 21 years old, turner was not considered good enough to be entered in the MLS superdraft, New England Revolution signed him up after a trial anyway, and two years later made his MLS debut and hasn’t looked back.
In 2018 he was voted their MVP award, his teammates voted him the NER Player of the Year, and he earned a call up to the USA Mens Team and played every game as they won the CONCAF Gold Cup, beating Mexico in the Final, and was named “Best Goalkeeper” of the tournament.
On confirming the news that New England had agreed to transfer Turner to Arsenal, the USA coach Gregg Berhalter was extremely complimentary of Turner’s meteoric rise to fame. He told Yahoo: “Well, first of all, I think it is just a great story and I hope the public is aware of this ascent of Matt Turner – because it is an incredible story,” said after USA’s 1-0 win on Thursday against El Salvador in the World Cup qualifiers.
“He went to Fairfield College, undrafted out of college, and now he’s playing with the national team and he’s headed to Arsenal.
“It’s an amazing story and it’s all down to him, his work ethic, his belief in himself and his never-give-up attitude.
“It’s a great story and Matt is a great guy, a great teammate and we are lucky to have him.
“Tonight was an example where he did everything he had to do. He was calm in all situations. He wasn’t tested much but he was there when we needed him and he looked like a player that’s going to Arsenal, for sure.”
Who knows, maybe he will carry on impressing and end up as Number One keeper at Arsenal. One thing he will good at in Cup games is that he is a penalty specialist (unlike Leno!) and has so far saved 9 of the 20 he has saved. He could prove the bargain of the year….