Mat Ryan opens up on being snubbed by Arsenal

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 06: Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa scores his team's first goal past Mat Ryan of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Arsenal at Villa Park on February 06, 2021 in Birmingham, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Mat Ryan has opened up on being snubbed by Arsenal before he moved to Real Sociedad.

He spent the second half of last season at the Emirates as the club’s second choice.

He made some appearances for his boyhood club and he did well in those games.

Because the Gunners had sold Emi Martinez and Alex Runarsson quickly proved to be a bad signing, Ryan was a breath of fresh air and helped in the second half of the campaign.

He had expected to get his deal turned into a permanent one by the club and revealed in a recent interview that he spoke to Mikel Arteta regarding that.

The Spaniard assured him he would speak to the club to sign him, because he liked how the Australian performed during his loan spell.

However, he never got a deal for the Gunners.

”I had a sit-down with Arteta at the end of the season,” he told The Athletic. “It was all very positive. He said I’d exceeded everyone’s expectations and I gave him quite a lot of headaches in selection.

“His comment to me was, ‘I’m going to speak to the club about trying to sign you permanently.’

“Over the summer, we were waiting. The club never contacted us directly, then it got to the point where I had another offer (from Sociedad). We went back to Arsenal and they just said I wasn’t No 1 on their list. It was being documented that they were looking for a UK-based goalkeeper to fill the spot.”

Just Arsenal Opinion

Signing Aaron Ramsdale instead of keeping Ryan is one of the smartest decisions we did in the summer.

It would have been great to have kept the Australian in our team, but we made the right choice in signing Ramsdale and he has proved us right. 

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