Owen Hargreaves thinks Aaron Ramsdale will be benched again by Mikel Arteta despite keeping a clean sheet during Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Brentford.
Summer signing David Raya has taken the number one jersey from the England international, but he was ineligible to play against his parent club on Saturday.
That resulted in Aaron Ramsdale starting his first Premier League game since September and Owen Hargreaves thought he had a ‘really tough’ first half, as he told Premier League Productions (26/11/23 at 1:25 pm).
In truth, the £30 million signing (Sky Sports) was lucky that he didn’t concede, not just on one occasion, but on two occasions because of his own errors.
If that had happened, then it certainly would have made the headlines.
But, in the end, as former Bayern Munich star Owen Hargreaves mentioned, Aaron Ramsdale kept that all-important clean sheet, with Kai Havertz scoring a crucial winning goal, but he thinks ‘something big’ has to happen for the shot-stopper to keep that starting spot.
Ramsdale returns to Arsenal’s starting XI
“Everybody wanted him to do well, didn’t they?” said Hargreaves. “He was so unlucky to be dropped for Raya, obviously Mikel wanted him to play a little bit better with his feet.
“He had a really tough first half. In the end, it didn’t cost his team and he kept a clean sheet. Kai (Havertz) scores and Ramsdale played.
“But I think it showed he probably isn’t going to get back in unless something big happens with Raya.”
Will Ramsdale leave in January?
There is talk about it and it shouldn’t be a surprise given the calibre of player he is and the noise around him being benched.
Ramsdale’s issue isn’t actually Arsenal, but that plane ticket to Germany for Euro 2024 next summer.
As of this moment, Gareth Southgate is picking him, but will the four-cap England star risk that spot by staying at Arsenal beyond January and not playing?
It seems as though Arteta will stick by his guns and continue to play Raya, so come the winter, Ramsdale has a big call to make.
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