After the Runar Runarsson debacle (to be fair Arsenal didn’t have much time or money to replace Martinez in January), it is great that the Gunners have brought in a proper Premier League goalkeeper as his replacement today.
But, as we have seen from his record, he is not used to (or happy to) sit on the bench wherever he plays, and it seems he is here with the intention of dispacing Bernd Leno as Arsenal’s Number one.
As he told Arsenal.com today after signing his loan deal: “I’ve never been a goalkeeper where I’ve liked to sit on the bench,”
“I’m sure every goalkeeper says that, but I’ve come here under the circumstances where Bernd has obviously done a great job for the club in his time since he’s arrived and he’s a very top-quality goalkeeper.
“But I believe also that I’ve shown that in my career until now also and I’m looking to come in here and push him and him push me. Like I said, we’ll try to get the best out of one another and to improve as individuals.
“If we can do that, then who’s going to be getting the nod on matchday with the number of games that we have in all the competitions that we’re still alive in? It’s going to be who’s in the best form and that’s only going to help the team to perform better and to get better results hopefully.
“So I’m very eager and keen to be here and get to work and start creating some nice memories through being successful.”
It is great for us Arsenal fans to see that we actually have two keepers fighting for their places, as we know Leno was not up to his best just after we sold Emi Martinez.
Now we know life won’t be so easy for the German when he sees how good Ryan is in training. And god forbid if he gets injured!
I, for one, am keen to see him playing in the Cups and the Europa League to see if he is worth keeping in the long term..