Arsenal latest signing Aaron Ramsdale has sent a warning to Bernd Leno he won’t be content merely playing the role of understudy this campaign.
The London club have made him the joint most expensive English goalkeeper of all-time after agreeing to pay Sheffield United an initial £24m for his services.
Ramsdale’s fee could equal the £30million Everton paid to sign Jordan Pickford from Sunderland four years ago, if the keeper meets certain performance related criteria.
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Leno, meanwhile, has been Arsenal’s Number one ever since usurping Petr Cech after his arrival from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2018, cementing his position after seeing off competition from Martinez.
However, The German star’s form has tailed off over the course of the last six months and he was arguably at fault for both goals in last week’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at Brentford.
Ramsdale is eligible to make his debut against Chelsea this weeekend and he has warned his new teammate that he is desperate to ‘take his shirt’.
‘Competition is key and it’s also a great place to be,’ said Ramsdale. ‘Bernd’s done a fantastic job over recent seasons and I’m here to push him all the way and take his shirt.
‘That’s for me to achieve and for him to keep in front of me. Healthy competition is always going to be good for the group and hopefully I can just bring something different to the goalkeeping department but also to the team as well
‘We all have different qualities and hopefully we can all merge together and form a great team.’
Asked what Arsenal supporters can expect from him, Ramsdale added: ‘Heart on the sleeve, everything out there. It’s a classic way of looking at it.
‘A lot of passion and pride. The way I play is I like to mix it up, I can go long, very comfortable at playing short and playing passes into midfield.
‘I’m not afraid of it needs to go long it goes long. I’ve got every league in me and more than happy to have a rough and a tumble for things in the box.’
