Arsenal have Aaron Ramsdale transfer bid rejected

Arsenal to Persist With Aaron Ramsdale Transfer Pursuit

While an unspecified amount, Amy Lawrence of The Athletic reveals that Arsenal’s ‘latest’ offer has been turned down by Sheffield United, who want comfortably more than the £18m they paid Bournemouth last summer.

Some reports are that they’re holding out for around £30m.

Interestingly, this is not the first bid. It’s been rejected nonetheless, but the Gunners maintain an interest and will pursue this again.

Say what you want about a goalkeeper who has suffered back-to-back relegations and looks a bit erratic in the box, but Arsenal have made their intentions clear and will not rest until they get their man. Dependent on cost, that is.

Ramsdale is not at the level (yet) where he should be taking Leno’s place in the team. If the plan is for him to do that in 12 months’ time then spending £25m, or whatever it will take, this summer to have someone warming the bench in case of another dirty Neal Maupay tackle is another example of poor resource distribution.

What is really holding Arsenal back in their hunt for a goalkeeper is the need for them to be homegrown. If they needed to fit that quota so importantly then Emi Martinez should have been kept.

To meet the homegrown demands perhaps it would have been a better idea sourcing a left-back from the lower divisions instead? Why is it so important that the goalkeeper is homegrown?

Either way, it’s a deal that looks like happening – at least if intent is anything to go by – so it should be time to place some faith in the recruitment team, as hard as that may be, that they’ve found a candidate to be Arsenal number one for years to come.