Arsenal has been linked with a move for the likes of Aaron Ramsdale and Sam Johnstone this summer, just one year after they allowed Emi Martinez to leave them for Aston Villa in a £20million move.
The Gunners kept faith with the calamitous Bernd Leno, but the German failed to take up his chance with some really terrible blunders last season.
His inconsistency and the poor performance of Alex Runarsson forced Arsenal to bring in Mat Ryan on loan from Brighton in January.
The Gunners might now have to bring in another goalkeeper who can rival Leno for the first-team spot.
The Daily Mail says they want to bid £30m for Ramsdale from Sheffield United after his impressive form for them in the Premier League last season.
They could also sign Johnstone perhaps for a smaller fee, however, the same report states clearly that neither of them is as good as Martinez who has been in stunning form at Aston Villa.
The Gunners will spend significantly more to sign Ramsdale than they made from selling Martinez, yet the report insists Ramsdale’s numbers pale in comparison to that of the Argentinian.
It would be interesting to see which goalkeeper Arsenal ends up with at the end of this transfer window.
Leno is fine for this year, only need a capable backup.
Next year they can search for a starting keeper to replace Leno if they choose.
Midfield should be the number 1 priority at the moment. We aren’t close to rop 4, and I’d argue still a ways off from top 6.
Ramsdale at GK won’t even move the needle, however a quality partner for Partey is a difference maker.
Lokonga played well, but foolish to depend on him to start and get us back into top 6.
Hear Zakaria is available, better option and more versatile than Neves, not to mention cheaper with his 1 year left on contract.
Where would we have finished last season without Leno’s Howlers? He’s simply not good enough.
Can you please tell us one Leno mistake that lead to a goal ? According to epl stats none. Maybe you saw what compiler of the stats didn’t see
👍
We will not make even the top six with Leno between the sticks. Any more of his howlers and his value will plummet. Personally, I feel quite bitter that we let Martinez go and kept a cock-up merchant.
“We will not make even the top six with Leno between the sticks.”
Yeah! We only finished a lowly 5th in the 18/19 season when Leno started 32 games in the PL.
I thought we had a capable deputy in Ryan.Zakaria is top quality DM which we have been lacking for years.
Grandad, I agree, not signing Mat Ryan compounded the Martinez decision. Onana was also an excellent value for money option. The money Sheffield United is asking for Aaron Ramsdale is ridiculous. Sam Johnstone is preferable from WBA.
As for Emi Martinez, the ship has sailed and Arsenal must move on. Upgrading midfield is the highest priority.
Balanced response re’ Leno Durand.
Looking forward to next season, and see this very “cleverly “ framed headline.
If AFTV banged on like this, they would be accused of simply cashing in on festering negativity, being a cesspool and all sorts !
In HINDSIGHT an error may have been made …….. but can we move on ?
On the flip side of this articles headline – no player can seek an assurance from the manger re’ guaranteed playing time.
“Play me or I go” – bluff called I’m afraid.
Emi’s doing fine, personally I am so much more bothered about the coming season and the rest of our window – which will include a decent back up (and competition) for Leno.
AJ
Think we have more glaring needs than big spending on GK.
Emi is gone, tired of discussing that sale, time to move on.
Should be a laser focus on midfield. If we could get Zakaria for around £25 million, I would take Roma’s offer of £15 million for Xhaka.
Especially if we have £20 million to bid for Ramsdale. We get get Zakaria and backup keeper for that money plus Xhaka sale to Roma.
Question is, do Edu and Arteta like Zakaria, and is there a capable backup GK for around £8 million? Loan one for a year perhaps?
👍 👍 AJ, Durand and Neil.
EMI wanted to be first choice so fair play,Leno may have had an off year by his standards but he’s still a class keeper,emi has had 1 good year,let’s not get carried away just yet,Ramsdale will give the same copetition answer emi did
I agree with you intoto…
All you said is all I have to say!
To avoid making faulty conclusions, wrong decisions, or blunders -to be exact – people making decisions are taught to avoid the extremely dangerous concept of “garbage in, garbage out”. The description of Bernd Leno’s performance as “calamitous” fits perfectly into this dangerous practice; it is utter garbage, rubbish, poppycock – take your pick.
It seems we have lost our ability to be fair and reasonable in our assessment of players.
Hi Durand.
Keeper.
My theory was based around testing Newcastles resolve regarding Freddie Woodman.
We hold the cards here, in terms of them desperately wanting Willock and (somehow) fancying AMN.
Could business be done – seems unlikely as all points to Ramsdale, but we’ll see.
Woodman has been, and remains my favoured option for a few solid reasons.
However, his player of the season loan at Swansea seems to have put paid to any move for him ???
Midfields an interesting one.
Is it asking just too much of ESR to carry that 10 shirts all year ?
Maddison may not be as outlandish as it seems ! But I would hate to see ESR’ s progress stunted.
But yes, successful sides have at least 2 quality players for each shirt.
Free Partey to play purely box to box.
Bring in Bissouma, Sanchez or Neves to play deeper.
By the way, keep an eye on ASL being fast tracked.
Right back.
I had a new R/B coming in as nailed on.- and am still banking on this.
However, our lack of ability to sell and raise funds could lead us to cutting or cloth accordingly.
Cedric / chambers may feature here, whilst other areas are addressed.
White could also knock across to play here.
We watch the rest of the window with bated breath.
There’s a new twist in the Willock to Newcastle plot.
Seems, Newcastle are working on a couple of back-up plans, if Willock is out of their range or the decision is not made early to their liking.
Ross Barkley of Chelsea and Hamza Choudary of Leicester are now in Newcastle’s radar along with our very own Willock. Barkley can be brought in on a loan deal, unlike the others who may need to be bought outright.
Martinez sale was a mistake but let’s move on. We almost all regret this. Mikel arteta probably regret it too but can’t say it publicly. That’s like that. Mistake was made but now they just have to see the future and see what is good for arsenal. Of course we will spend more now for equivalent or less quality but things can’t be reversed. Honestly, Ramsdale, if available for 25m should not be a bad signing. He is English, homegrown and with room to improve.
Isn’t this just the kind of thing that the recent article urging Arsenal fans to become supporters all about?
It is plain and simple to me – after nine years of being content to play second /third fiddle, he has one blinding three quarters of a season and THEN starts demanding the earth.
I don’t care if he is :was better than Leno, once a player believes he is bigger than the club, it’s time to say bye bye.
If he didn’t hace the guts to fight it out with Leno, then MA made the right decision.
Good luck to him at Villa and I hope he is successful – just remember this though…. including our worst season in decades, we STILL finished above them.
Let’s move on!!!!
In a nut shell Ken !
KEN, is it not the whole truth to say that it does not suit the clear anti MA agenda of those who wrongly blame him for calling the bluff of a long time deputy keeper who had the temerity to demand he be first choice!
No manager worth his salt will ever give in to this sort of arrogant player demand. He was right to call Martinez’s bluff and IMO THAT should be the end of it!
Once players start calling the shots instead of the manager, you might as well close the club!
Spot on, Ken
The Martinez ship has sailed. No player is bigger than the Club. Move on, as the future can be changed, the past cannot.
We all know that the sale of Martinez was a horrendous mistake, and now Arsenal have to make that good, repair the damage etc. That means buying a good solid confident keeper, who won’t come cheap. £30m for an England international keeper is probably about right, certainly better than an ‘El Cheapo’ stopper from abroad, who might not settle.
Calamitous Leno !
Stunning form of Martinez !
Arsenal goals against last season
39
Aston Villa
46
Better get used to it, Dan. In 20 years time we’ll still be hearing ‘we sold the wrong keeper’ 🤪
The truth is we sold our best goalkeeper last season for the wrong fee, kept the lesser of the two, bought an awful deputy, got in a decent back up in January but now can’t get anywhere near a keeper as good for anywhere near the same price. Anyone who thinks that is the way to go are in denial of what is happening. RIP my Arsenal.
So true Reggie…it’s funny that some will continually propagate the ridiculous notion that he deserved to be shipped elsewhere simply because he wanted to be given the starter’s job, rightfully I might add, yet they didn’t chastise their manager for willingly provided playing time and positional assurances to players like WIllian or Ode, well at least not until things went sideways with the former…so ridiculous, especially considering neither of the aforementioned players had any history with our club, unlike the Keeper in question…can’t have it both ways cherry-pickers
Yes, rightfully and obviously TRVL, He had been overlooked, wrongly for ten years and foolishly people think because he rightly asked to be No1 after that treatment, he had an attitude problem. I think the real problem was he new he was number one and wasn’t given the credit yet again that he deserved. NOW WE ARE PAYING DEARLY FOR ANOTHER WRONG DECISION. And lack of a plan.
“Overlooked” for 10 years at one club !!!
That in itself takes some doing – did they lose him ?
Cherrypicking ?
Also gone under M A;
Ozil
Mustafi
Papa
Matty G
Mkhitaryan
Macey
Ileav
Working on;
Bellerin
AMN
Willock
Nketiah
Nelson
Torriera
Kolasniac
Poss – Lacca
Saliba – hope we see him back.
Probably missed some.
So not “cherry picking”, but having an OPINION on ALL comings and going’s.
you obviously didn’t understand the point of my statement so you simply “cherry-picked” an argument you liked more and ran with it…my point was you can’t create a fictitious line in the sand regarding Martinez’s calculated push for the number 1 Keeper job, then not use that same line of logic when it comes to those other players I mentioned, who clearly made particular contractual demands about playing time in their preferred positions…how are those two things fundamentally different…btw, I wasn’t referring to you anyways, when I made my original comment; in fact, I agreed with several of the points you expressed in your earlier post to Durand
Go and get the Czech no 1 he’s on a free transfer and he’s pretty good for a couple of years at 32
Arteta is doing more harm than good in arsenal,arteta sold Martinez to Aston Villa that one by d way let me not lay emphasis on that we have saliba in our team instead of the team to utilize on these coming season arteta loaned him again to France and went for over hyped Ben white.guendozie was also available he loaned him to France and went for sambi,I can bet dat his sambi of a guy is not better than guendozie .I don’t know why arteta don’t like french players,that is why he don’t want to facilitate the signing of auoar.
Alex Runarsson will sign for Turkish side Altay Spor on loan next week (Chris Wheatley)
If this transpires Sue, good luck to the lad.
Never ready (personally I doubt ever) for our place.
Can we just move on and stop talking about Martinez…
I think you’ve all missed the point. Martinez played SECOND FIDDLE for all those years so if he was calling a bluff he should have done it years ago. Now he’s taken a chance (NOT given by Arsenal) you are saying if the players demand then kick then bye bye? He was willing to stay for all those years. He asked the questions that could have resulted in him staying. He had no bluff to play. He wanted to play for arsenal but it took how many years!!.
There’s a bigger picture you don’t want to see. For years he said I’m better than this but no one listened. Villa did so that’s what you got to get over. Deaf and stubborn management not the player wanting to do his career he chose.
Absolutely correct – I must admit I did prefer Emi to Leno, but wouldn’t have sold either of them to another PL club. Now that it seems Leno wants to go anyway, if Arsenal were undecided between the two of them, which I guess they must have been, why didn’t they offer both long term contracts to see who was more committed???? It just seems a total shambles, which for a club like Arsenal, there is no excuse. Lack of direction and understanding comes from the top. The best outgoing transfer that can be made this month is Kroenke, He has no passion for football or for the club, both of which are required of an owner to run a successful club. Turning up to two games in 10 years shows this.