- Aaron Ramsdale urged by boss Mikel Arteta not to rush a decision on his future
- The goalkeeper has been after David Raya arrived at Arsenal and took his place
- What is the WORST Premier League hat-trick? – Find out on It’s All Coming Up
Mikel Arteta has warned Aaron Ramsdale not to rush any decision on his Arsenal future ahead of the January transfer window, hinting his role could change in the coming months.
It comes after Gareth Southgate on Thursday told the goalkeeper he cannot promise him an England place if he is not playing.
David Raya has started every Arsenal league and Champions League match since coming into the team for their 1-0 win over Everton on September 17.
Ahead of the Gunners’ game against Burnley on Saturday, Arteta said: ‘Well, first of all, my door is open to any player. We just want the best for our players and we try to do that, and we know the influence that we can have — sometimes positively, sometimes not so positively, towards them.
‘We will always try to do our best to help them, but this is a team sport that needs 24 players that have to fulfil a role.
Aaron Ramsdale has been warned by his manager not to rush a decision on his Arsenal future
Mikel Arteta said the goalkeeper’s role could be expected to change before the season ends
‘And the role that you have in August, it might be very different to the one you have in March. So making early decisions, in my experience, is not something good at all because the team has certain needs that has to be accomplished.
‘And in order to do that, you cannot do it with six, 10 or 14 players. It is impossible. So you need everyone and Aaron has a really important role in the team.’
Arsenal face being without up to eight players on Saturday. Emile Smith Rowe, Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber are out, while Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka and Takehiro Tomiyasu are uncertain.
On Saka, he added: ‘He didn’t train yesterday [Thursday]. Let’s see if he can make it tomorrow [Saturday].’
