Arsenal star told to not ‘go anywhere near’ Chelsea after £60m move to Prem rivals is mooted
Arsenal star Aaron Ramsdale has been told to reject a move to Premier League rivals Chelsea amid reported interest from Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
The England international has impressed for the Gunners in recent seasons but he has slipped down the pecking order following Mikel Arteta’s to sign David Raya.
The Spaniard was linked with Bayern Munich and Manchester United before he completed his loan move to Arsenal. The London outfit have the option to sign him on a permanent basis for £27m next summer.
Raya started for Arsenal when they faced Everton, PSV Eindhoven and Tottenham this month but Ramsdale was given an opportunity against Brentford in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Arteta’s team selections in recent weeks indicate Raya is his first-choice goalkeeper but Ramsdale did his chances no harm with his showing in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Brentford.
Liverpool legend Steve McManaman has explained why he thinks it was not an “unfair decision” from Arteta to sign Raya to compete with Ramsdale.
Despite this, Ramsdale is already being linked with a move elsewhere and Chelsea are said to be interested in a £60m swoop for the goalkeeper.
“I don’t necessarily believe it’s an unfair decision because that’s what competition for places is all about,” McManaman told Betfred.
“If Mikel Arteta believes that David Raya is a better goalkeeper or a better goalkeeper with his feet, then that’s his prerogative.
“David Raya’s reputation has always been very,very good but it was still a surprise that Arsenal went for him because Ramsdale was excellent for his club last season.”
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McManaman has also advised Ramsdale that he should not go “anywhere near Chelsea at this moment”.
“Clubs will certainly be monitoring Aaron’s situation at Arsenal,” McManaman added.
“Mikel Arteta clearly wants quality in reserve, so I will be very surprised if he allows Aaron to leave the club, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal have already been contacted by other clubs that are interested in his signature because Aaron wants to play every single week and he wants to play for England with Euro 2024 on the horizon.
“Could he move to Chelsea? I have no idea what’s going on at Chelsea to be honest. Kepa Arrizabalaga has already gone to Real Madrid, Edouard Mendy has moved to Saudi Arabia and then they brought Robert Sánchez in, so I’d be very surprised if they admitted defeat so suddenly and tried to bring Aaron Ramsdale to Stamford Bridge and play him over Sánchez.
“I don’t believe that Arsenal would allow him to go to Chelsea unless they offered them an extortionate amount of money, which is something they’ve done with multiple players they’ve signed in recent times.
“If you’re Aaron, you probably wouldn’t want to go anywhere near Chelsea at this moment in time because you don’t know what you’re going to get. He’s probably best just staying where he is now, letting everything calm down, biding his time and then he can re-evaluate the situation in a month or two once he’s had the chance to talk with Gareth Southgate.”
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