One of the places in the England team – or any team, like Arsenal, for that matter – that is the hardest to break into is in goal. For the entire duration of Gareth Southgate’s managerial reign, Jordan Pickford has been England’s number one.
The Everton man has 60 caps for his country, all coming under Southgate. He made his debut on 10 November 2017, in a friendly against Germany, and has since gone on to keep 28 clean sheets across his 60 caps.
Over the years, there have been some challengers to Pickford, with the hopes of displacing him from his number one spot. Nick Pope, Newcastle United’s first-choice goalkeeper, has excellent credentials. He has ten caps for the Three Lions, and last played on the 26th of September 2022.
Sam Johnstone of Crystal Palace is another goalkeeper who has been in and around the England squad in recent years. However, the former Manchester United man has just four caps for the Three Lions. Frustratingly for Johnstone, he is currently sidelined with an elbow injury and will miss Euro 2024.
There is one goalkeeper who, last season, many people believed should be England’s number one ahead of Pickford. However, the 2023/24 season has been a tough one for forgotten Gunners man, Aaron Ramsdale, and he could well be set to leave his current club in the summer.
Aaron Ramsdale's transfer value at Arsenal in 2024
The 25-year-old was Mikel Arteta’s first-choice goalkeeper last season but with the arrival of David Raya on loan, opportunities have been limited for Rasmdale, who currently has four England caps to his name.
The Gunners bought Ramsdale from relegated Sheffield United in 2021, for a fee of £24m, although that was a sum that could rise to £30m with add-ons. Now, with Raya set to stay at the Emirates Stadium permanently, the England international could depart the Gunners this summer.
According to Team Talk, Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea are the side thought to be most interested in signing Ramsdale, although clubs such as Inter Milan are linked with him too.
A fee of around £60m is enough to tempt Arsenal into a deal, according to the report. This is a fee slightly above Ramsdale’s market value, however. Football Observatory value the 25-year-old at £42.8m, almost double what the Gunners spent on him in 2021. They certainly seem to be in line to make plenty of profit on Ramsdale if they sell him this summer.
How Ramsdale and Raya compare
The 2023/24 season has been incredibly frustrating for Ramsdale, who has made just 11 appearances in all competitions so far. He has conceded 12 goals in that time, keeping just three clean sheets.
The 6 foot 2 stopper's most recent appearance came on 9 March, when he started at home against Brentford, a game Raya could not play because it was against his parent club. Prior to that, Ramsdale’s last Premier League appearance was on the 25th of November, also against the Bees.
Last season, however, the one-time Bournemouth star was a key man for Arsenal, playing in all 38 of their Premier League games, keeping 14 clean sheets. That ranked him joint-second in the league, and was bettered only by David de Gea’s 17 for Manchester United.
With that being said, Raya is outperforming Ramsdale’s numbers from the 2022/23 season, statistically speaking. Aside from having an equal amount of clean sheets than the Englishman having played less games, Raya is also beating Ramsdale’s post-shot expected goals, where a lower number is better, and cross-claiming numbers.
According to Fbref, Raya stops an average of 12.2% crosses, and has a post shot xG of 0.64. That ranks him in the top 8% and the top 5% respectively amongst Premier League goalkeepers this season.
In contrast, as per Fbref, Ramsdale last season stopped an average of 5.8% crosses and has a post shot xG of 1.05. This places the 25-year-old in the 36th percentile and the top 16% amongst Premier League goalkeepers last season.
With that in mind, it can certainly be argued that Arsenal have upgraded their goalkeeper by signing Raya. If they can get £60m for Ramsdale, at a £36m profit, it certainly seems like a logical deal for the north London side to do, and works out well for the player himself because he gets regular first-team minutes as he looks to challenge Pickford for his England spot.
Amid those aforementioned rumours that a variety of teams are eyeing the Gunners' understudy this summer – and with the club still in the hunt for the Premier League title – there is a case to be made that Ramsdale won't play for Arteta's side again.
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