I do find the Ramsdale thing pretty interesting. Arteta basically replaced him at the first opportunity he had to get David Raya (he actually wanted to sign Raya before Ramsdale too) and other than that he's played for Bournemouth and Sheffield United and been relegated with both. I think he's decent but his concentration is bad and he is definitely overrated by many. However, obviously miles better than Alex Mc
They have apparently agreed terms with the Espanyol keeper to replace Ramsdale - not sure if they would want Bentley too.
Ah, I wondered if they still might. They loaned out Karl Hein and he was the third choice at AFC, I think. Bentley also counts as homegrown (and was in Arsenal's academy once upon a time)
It would massively surprise me. Genuine question; what do you see in him? For me he’s weak, poor touch, poor positioning, poor instinctive finishing. Poor passing, poor attitude
Well he hasn't shown it nearly often enough but he's got good vision and good passing. He produced an absolutely gorgeous defence splitting through ball for KWP to score against Leeds 2 seasons ago. His goal against Man City in the League Cup was class. It's the right move to sell him. Just because a player doesn't settle at a club or struggles for form it doesn't mean they're awful. He's only 21 as well. I genuinely think there's a lot of talent to unlock in Mara.
For me the concentration aspect is a bit of a red flag, especially if we're playing out from the back. Personally, and I appreciate I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I think if Saints are looking at a loan, then they should be making an approach to loan Rushworth from Brighton. Whilst not tested at PL level, he's proven to be one of the best Championship GK's, he was touted for an England call-up for the Euros, at both Swansea and Brighton he's used to playing from the back. Not to mention Jason Steele saying he's PL level now. His loan fee would probably be a lot cheaper than £6m to boot.
Is this loan fee thing that's crept into the game simply a formalisation of what percentage of wages the loaning club are prepared to pay or, as I suspect, is it something that should be stamped on in order to stop clubs stockpiling players?
It’s in addition to. It’s been around for ages but the huge increase in the values are a byproduct of elite team squad bloat. If Chelsea/City/Arsenal sign a player for £40m and it doesn’t work out, they can try to recoup some of it in high loan fees. The squad size rules mean clubs should want to get loans out the door, but, like transfer fees, the pressure to get a deal done will ramp up in the final days/hours of the window and there’s extra motivation to cut your demands to create a squad space.
I have it on reasonable authority that he has wanted out for a while now. His wife and children never moved over to the UK with him so he’s still here on his own
He is overrated, but the trouble is that we’re comparing people to Alex, which makes him look like Donnarumma.
Szczesny's a free agent isn't he? Realistically, could we tempt him here? I'll take my rose tinted glasses off now.
I never thought Ramsdale was possible and all the rumours just stemmed from him being at the playoffs. Johnstone seems far more realistic if we are looking at PL keepers
