Arsenal star sent clear transfer warning as exit will ‘not be easy’ amid £60m Chelsea links
According to reports, it will “not be easy” for Aaron Ramsdale to find a new club during the January transfer window if he opts to leave Arsenal.
Ramsdale has impressed for Arsenal in recent years but he has slipped down the pecking order at the start of this season.
The Gunners – who are second in the 2023 Premier League net spend table – recruited David Raya during the summer transfer window as he joined them on an initial loan deal from Brentford.
Raya has made a couple of mistakes during the early stages of this season but Mikel Arteta is expected to stand by his new signing.
If Ramsdale stays at Arsenal for the rest of this campaign, he may not play regularly ahead of next summer’s European Championships.
Ramsdale has been linked with a shock £60m move to Premier League rivals Chelsea but Fabrizio Romano is of the understanding that no “negotiations” are ongoing over an exit at the moment.
“The Aaron Ramsdale situation could be one to keep open, but at the moment I’m not aware of any negotiations. The goalkeeper market is a bit different from outfield players – it’s not easy for a goalkeeper to find a top club who can guarantee playing time,” Romano told Caught Offside.
“If you look around the top clubs in the Premier League and Europe, almost everywhere will have a goalkeeper that they’re happy with. It’s not easy, so goalkeepers usually move in the summer, where there is a domino of goalkeepers.
“At the moment there is nothing concrete, nothing close, Arsenal are not negotiating with any club, and the idea is for Ramsdale to compete with David Raya until the end of the season.
“They still hope Ramsdale will accept this, and then they will make a decision in the summer transfer window. Still, we never know what can happen, because with things like injuries the situation can change very fast, as we saw with Kepa leaving Chelsea for his loan move to Real Madrid in the summer to replace the injured Thibaut Courtois.
“So it’s one to keep open, but at the moment there is no negotiation, and nothing concrete.”
READ MORE: Raya is a better goalkeeper but right now Ramsdale looks a better ‘Arsenal’ goalkeeper
Romano has also indicated that Arsenal target Ivan Toney is likely to cost “around £60-65m” in January.
“There’s been a lot of interest in Ivan Toney, including from Italy, but the idea of the player is to move to a top English club,” Romano added.
“There is interest from Arsenal, for sure, he is appreciated by people at the club, but we’ll have to see if Arsenal want to spend important money on a striker, especially after their big spending in the summer.”
He continued: “The feeling of sources is that Toney’s asking price could be around £60-65m – Brentford would ideally want more than this, but the feeling at the moment is that for that kind of price the deal could be done.”
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