Aaron Ramsdale has opened up about the ‘difficult two years’ he has endured with the £24million signing having now arrived at Arsenal from Sheffield United. The 23-year-old goalkeeper has joined Mikel Arteta’s side on a four-year contract with an option of a fifth and has described himself as a ‘old head’ as a result of the difficulties he has overcome on the pitch.
Aaron Ramsdale said: “A difficult two years, obviously the circumstances with what happened each season but I’ve learned to grow mentally and as a person off the pitch I think I’m a quite old head for a young 23-year-old.”
Ramsdale climbed the football pyramid ahead of his breakthrough into the Premier League, playing at the likes of Chesterfield and AFC Wimbledon, and detailed his early exposure to men’s football and how the variation of playing styles has prepared him to grace the Emirates.
Aaron Ramsdale said: “A lot of people are saying that goalkeepers don’t normally play a lot of games by the time they’re 23 and obviously I have. I have that on my side and I’ve learned how to play different ways, you know long ball, playing out from the back, mixing it up. So, there’s bows to my rack which I’m adding each time and hopefully I can continue to do that here.”
Ramsdale’s previous pair of clubs, the Cherries and the Blades, encompass a perfect balance of varying play-styles ahead of his tenure under Arteta in north London. Bernd Leno has been accustomed to questions being asked about his ability to play out from the back following a relatively unimpressive pre-season, intensified by the side’s inability to beat Brentford’s press.
