Aaron Ramsdale has spoken for the first time since joining Arsenal, telling the fans of his “delight’ after finally sealing his £30million move from Sheffield United.
The England international was announced as the Gunners’ newest arrival on Friday after the two clubs agreed a fee following weeks of protracted negotiations.
It has been a busy day for the north London outfit, having already announced the return of Martin Odegaard to the club on a permanent basis.
And the 24-year-old was quick to send a message on social media to his 39,000 followers, with Arsenal fans no doubt scurrying to hit the follow button.
“Delighted to start this journey with you guys,” he tweeted from his official account.
“Ready to hit the challenge head on and see all the fans inside the stadium.”
Ramsdale is seen as a long-term replacement for Bernd Leno, who has struggled for form over the past 18 months and he admitted he will push the German all the way to take his spot.
“Competition is key and it’s also a great place to be,” said Ramsdale told the club’s official website.
“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.”
Ramsdale could make his debut against Chelsea on Sunday after the paperwork was completed before the 1pm deadline on Friday.
He becomes Mikel Arteta’s fifth summer signing to take the club’s spending to over £140m — the most spent by any Premier League club this summer.
Ben White became the club’s third-most expensive signing at £50m from Brighton, with Ramsdale coming in at number three after Odegaard’s £35m switch from Real Madrid.
Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares have already made their debuts after moving from Anderlecht and Benfica respectively.
The Englishman burst out onto the scene with Bournemouth when he replaced Artur Boruc in goal for the 2019-20 season.
But after the Cherries’ relegation to the Championship, Ramsdale was quickly snapped up by Sheffield United, who had impressed in their first season in the Premier League.
Unfortunately for Ramsdale, he suffered a second successive relegation when the Blades finished bottom of the top-flight standings under Chris Wilder.
The goalkeeper came under-fire for some of his performances, with comparisons made to his predecessor Dean Henderson, who returned to Manchester United after two seasons on loan.
Despite that, Ramsdale was called up to England’s Euro 2020 by Gareth Southgate, ironically replacing Henderson in the squad after he picked up a hip injury weeks before the tournament.
And he will be eager to impress now that he has sealed his move to the Emirates Stadium and move towards challenging for the number one spot at both club and international level.
