David James has told Sky Sports News (19/8, 10:11) that Aaron Ramsdale will have all the quality needed to displace Bernd Leno at Arsenal if he improves his distribution of the ball.
Arsenal are close to finalising a deal to sign Ramsdale from Sheffield United to rival Leno. The Gunners have agreed to pay the Blades an initial £24m, with a further £6m in add-ons, per Goal. Those clauses will be dependent on Arsenal qualifying for Europe numerous times.
Ramsdale will also have to make a vast number of appearances for Arsenal to pay Sheffield United the full £30m. The 23-year-old will arrive in north London to provide cover for Leno at first, and could join in time to feature in Sunday’s matchday squad at home to Chelsea.
Ramsdale started all 38 of Sheffield United’s fixtures last term but could not save them from relegation. He kept five clean sheets to 63 goals conceded, while Leno kept 11 shutouts to 37 conceded in 35 appearances. Yet James has high hopes for Ramsdale at Arsenal if he improves his distribution.
“Ramsdale has all the agility, can make all the big saves. The one question mark I have over him is his distribution. He can boom the ball, there’s not a problem with that. But it’s the finites of being able to play into midfield. We look at Jordan Pickford and how good he is, and it’s a good comparison given Pickford is the out-and-out number one for England.
“So, if Ramsdale is going to take the number one position [from Leno], that’s an area where he has to improve. If he improves on that, then he’s got all the qualities to become Arsenal’s number one for a long time.”
James right to point to Ramsdale passing as area to improve at Arsenal
James is right to note Ramsdale’s passing as the area the Sheffield United goalkeeper would have to improve at Arsenal. Leno was a considerably superior player on the ball compared to the Blades shot-stopper in the Premier League last season.
According to data collected by SofaScore, Leno made the fourth-most passes by a top-flight goalkeeper last season with 763. Ramsdale, meanwhile, ranked 16th with 442, while only completing 43% of his attempts. Leno found teammates with 77% of his passes.
Ramsdale, in his defence, played a vastly contrasting style to Leno, but that should also alert Arsenal fans. Of Ramsdale’s accurate passes, 311 were long balls with a 33% success rate. Leno only completed 110 long balls, the 17th-most, with a 32% completion rate.
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