Arsenal: What does Aaron Ramsdale mean for Bernd Leno?

The young England international is now an Arsenal player. Aaron Ramsdale and Bernd Leno will be battling one another, as well as the opposition, all Premier League season long. What he was able to do for Sheffield United, despite the side’s relegation, was really quite impressive.

That is why Edu and Mikel Arteta sought after the goalkeeper and listed him as their number one target, joining the side after weeks of negotiations. He will likely be the goalkeeper, should all things go according to plan, for the foreseeable future.

While not all Gooners are as excited about the move as I am, I think that is simply because of the team he played for and their unfortunate record.

Ramsdale has all the tools needed to excel in goal for whoever he plays for, and since he is now with Arsenal, it will be up to them to give him the opportunity to succeed. How can they do this? What will he provide them in concert with the incumbent goalkeeper Bernd Leno? He finally has genuine competition, which may well have impacted his improved display against Chelsea. Who knows.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Aaron Ramsdale was sought for Arsenal because of his ability and his transfer acquisition can only help Bernd Leno

The 23-year-old, who came up with Bolton Wanderers before Sheffield United, is capable and ready to make an immediate impact. He will be able to slide into a role similar to Dean Henderson and David de Gea at Manchester United, with potentially greater upside should things work out positively for Arsenal.

That the defense he was playing behind was absolutely porous should go without saying, and if Arsenal does not improve themselves, it might be more of the same for the young player at his new club. While the number of goals conceded under his watch last season was quite high at 68 goals across all competitions, he also only kept six clean sheets. It is difficult for a player to perform to their best with abject defenders and teammates lost at sea.

Ramsdale is hoping to receive different from his new teammates, yet the same might still be said regarding the man he’s being charged with giving competition. Bernd Leno, still just 29 years old, is a more than adequate keeper, or at least he has the ability to be one. He simply has not materialized into a match-winning stopper and is known to have individual mistakes and distribution issues that can sometimes cost his team.

Last campaign for Arsenal – who are a much larger, better-funded, and better-built outfit than the Blades – Bernd Leno tallied 16 clean sheets and conceded 52 goals. Those are good numbers, but it is likely that the addition of such a talented, young goalkeeper behind Leno is useful for inspirational purposes, as much as any other.

With competition, it is hoped that both players thrive and give Arsenal an edge that the best teams already have with depth in between the sticks. Despite the vast discrepancy in other statistical areas, the difference in save percentage was almost a single percentage point, hovering around 70%. Both goalkeepers can improve, yet Ramsdale faced a much more faulty team than even Arsenal can claim to have.

Given a similar scenario for each player, the coaching staff might even surmise that the new boy Ramsdale could usurp Leno. It’s far from out of the question this term. This is an event designed, in part, to push Leno forward, to make him indignant, and perhaps frustrated even.

With this understanding, however, it would be a luxury should both players be possibly employed in tandem, with cup games being handed to the new boy who lies in wait for his Premier League opportunity.

While all of this settles itself out, it could possibly prove to be one of the smarter purchases of the Arteta era when one looks back on it, no matter how long the manager ends up staying in north London for. Should the rest of this chaos get settled soon, Arsenal has a real chance, with perhaps one or more further players added before the summer window closes, at righting its current, unsettled state.

It will not be easy, but the sale of unwanted and surplus players will do wonders for helping to round out this versatile, young, and hungry roster with more talent, creativity, and imagination.