Friday 15 July 2022

Goalkeepers - who’s in, who’s out @ Arsenal FC?

Gunners fans can't really complain too much about the transfer window, so far, although it's been said that Arsenal need to land at least one more player, who can fill in at left back or play in midfield.

Perhaps one of the ways fans can determine whether or not players will stay at Arsenal is by looking at their respective contract situations.

Thanks to The Athletic's (theathletic.com) recent article entitled: 'Every Arsenal player's contract situation explained', perhaps we can make some educated guesses as to who will stay and who will go (no deliberate reference to the Clash's song of the same name!).

Keepers
Aaron Ramsdale (2025)
Apparently, this deal could be extended until 2026, and he does seem like England's future number one, despite his slightly shaky end to last season.
Nevertheless, he was absolutely outstanding, when he first broke into the first team and his positive attitude is infectious. In this way, he's as much a catalyst for the high-energy performances of this current Arsenal team as Eric Cantona was for a Man U team of old, adding arrogance and belief to a team of youngsters.
Verdict: STAY

Bernd Leno (2023)
The 30-year-old's last display in the Arsenal first team was incredible and, based on that, you'd expect a queue of suitors.
Clearly, particularly in a World Cup year, Leno needs to move on and Fulham seems the most likely destination. A fee of £10m seems to be a fair amount, given the Germany international only has a year left on his current deal.
Verdict: GO

Matt Turner (2025)
Turner is expected to be Ramsdale's deputy for the forthcoming season but, based on what I saw in the friendly against Nurnberg, he's certainly not an upgrade on Leno.

Nevertheless, Turner has an excellent pedigree, being a USA international, who was voted the best keeper of the CONCACAF Gold Cup of last year.
Verdict: STAY

Runar Alex Runarsson (2024)
It's quite difficult to imagine how Runarsson is going to resurrect his career with Arsenal. Although he kept a clean sheet in the Gunners' victory over Dundalk in the Europa League back in 2020, he seemed extremely nervous. His hesitation in his first and only Premier League game at Wolves, after Leno got sent off, beggared belief.
Hopefully, the club that took him on loan last season, OH Leuven, will snap him up on a permanent basis or if not, some other club will come in for the Iceland international.
Verdict: GO

Arthur Okoronkwo (2024)
After his calamitous air-kick in a pre-season friendly game last season against Hibernian, I lost belief that this highly-rated youngster would develop into an Arsenal first-team keeper. Indeed, he has not yet made his official debut for the club at that level.
Based on last pre-season, the best young keeper at the club is Karl Hein, who has more presence than Okoronkwo and was snapped up by Reading last season on loan. Quite why the Estonia international is not part of the first-team squad, while Okoronkwo is does not make much sense.
Verdict: GO

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