Arsenal’s easy Sam Johnstone & Aaron Ramsdale transfer decision
![From L: England's goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, England's goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and England's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford take part in a training session at St George's Park in Burton-on-Trent on June 27, 2021 during the UEFA EURO 2020 football competition. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images) From L: England's goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, England's goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and England's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford take part in a training session at St George's Park in Burton-on-Trent on June 27, 2021 during the UEFA EURO 2020 football competition. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/2d94421bad7bea6826e07324d2d9f6961e04088b6cb2b79a3d302639edf22ac0.jpg)
Arsenal Have Made Squad Building Errors With Goalkeeper
This summer demonstrates the poor squad building from Edu and co. Arsenal had a homegrown keeper in Emiliano Martinez and sold him over Bernd Leno.
It was right to sell one of them as £20m can’t be scoffed at, and the only reason it was Martinez was because there were no takers for Leno. No need going over old stories on this one.
But having sold a homegrown number one goalkeeper Arsenal find themselves scraping the barrel for an average replacement. Neither Johnstone nor Ramsdale are excellent options.
Inaki Cana responded to Martinez’s sale by instructing the Gunners to go out and sign one of the worst goalkeepers this club has seen for some time, who wasn’t even homegrown. Runarsson is on his way out now after being signed for £1.8m having made a grand total of six appearances.
Evidently at no stage did anyone think having a homegrown goalkeeper would be important. This despite making pre-meditated decisions to move on a vast number of Hale End players from the squad this summer.
It would appear they’ve realised the error of their ways. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but Martinez with a cheaper, non-homegrown option as backup could’ve have been a fairly perfect scenario. Instead, it appears to be coming down to Johnstone or Ramsdale.
Continued…