Why Newcastle United fans horrified at Aaron Ramsdale signing have got it all wrong
Newcastle United are closing in on the signing of Aaron Ramsdale - and despite what some fans think it’s a signing which makes a lot of sense
Make no mistake about it, up to this point Newcastle United have had a hugely frustrating and underwhelming summer on the recruitment front. They’ve missed out on a whole host of major targets such as Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Hugo Ekitike and James Trafford - and are facing up to the growing possibility that their top scorer and cup final hero Alexander Isak, in a summer where had looked previously destined to inherit the club’s prestigious No.9 shirt.
So far the North East club have made just one first team signing in the form of Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga. Yet it only appears to be a matter of time before a second deal is confirmed, with Newcastle World confirming that the Magpies have reached an agreement to sign Aaron Ramsdale on a season long loan deal from Southampton, in a deal which also includes a £25m option to buy next summer.
It’s a signing which has certainly divided opinion among many supporters, after Ramsdale was part of a Southampton team which almost became the worst in top-flight history. Meanwhile, fans of rival clubs have used Ramsdale’s relegation record as a stick to beat him with and have joked that Newcastle will inherit the ‘Ramsdale curse.’
Clearly, Ramsdale’s stock has fallen in recent seasons, and he’s definitely had a difficult time on the pitch which has affected his status in England’s goalkeeping pecking order. But is the signing of Ramsdale actually that bad? How does he compare to Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka? And is he likely to help Newcastle succeed on multiple fronts?
Aaron Ramsdale has his faults - but it’s clear to see why Newcastle United want to sign him
It’s fair to say that Ramsdale’s decision to join Southampton last summer was doomed to fail from the start and it was always a massive risk for him to make that decision in the first place. However, despite his team’s desperately poor season, it’s hardly fair to blame Ramsdale for the club’s disastrous term. Overall, he played 30 matches for the Saints, keeping three clean sheets and conceding 66 goals, which is an average of over two a game.
But he also had a lot to deal with and did finish the season with the second most saves in the division (120) while also being faced with the second most shots on target (166) over the course of the season, with only Brentford’s Mark Flekken being called into action more times, although he did play seven extra games. It gave Ramsdale a 67.5% save percentage. The 15th best in the league, which is hardly remarkable, but it’s also worth noting that he faced seven penalties across the season and saved two which is the joint highest alongside Jordan Pickford and Jose Sa.
Ramsdale played in front of a defence which was simply nowhere near Premier League standard, with a rigid insistence on playing the ball out from the back, despite lacking the players with the technical qualities to do so, and it was largely a case of bad team making the goalkeeper much much worse than he actually was. This is the third Premier League relegation of his career after also being demoted with Bournemouth and Sheffield United in consecutive years between 2019 and 2021, but it’s worth noting that Ramsdale did win his Team’s Player of the Year award in both of those campaigns.
However, when it comes to the signing of Ramsdale, there’s often a great focus on the lows of his career and perhaps not enough emphasis on how good Ramsdale was while playing for Arsenal in front of a much more stable and coherent back-line. Ramsdale played two seasons for Arsenal as first choice, racking up 78 league appearances and was named in the PFA Team of the Season in the 2022/23 campaign; becoming one of just six English goalkeepers to achieve the feat in the Premier League era.
He joined as backup to Bernd Leno at a time where Arsenal had just finished eighth, and went on to usurp the German in the pecking order and play a significant role in helping the Gunners rise from a mid-table team to one competing for the title during his time as No.1.Ramsdale conceded just 43 times in 38 appearances during the 2022/23 campaign - the third lowest in the league. And he also kept 14 clean sheets, which was the second best in the division that term.
When Ramsdale was dropped to second choice after David Raya’s arrival, it was seen as extremely harsh by most Gunners fans, and although the Spaniard has since thrived in between the posts, it’s fair to say that Ramsdale did little wrong to lose his place at the time.
Is Aaron Ramsdale worth £25m?
Newcastle United have signed Ramsdale on a season-long loan which includes a £25m option to buy if he proves to be a hit in the North East. It’s not yet clear if Newcastle will look to exercise that option or whether he’ll serve as back-up to Nick Pope and be a stop-gap signing for the season, with Martin Dubravka expected to depart. However, based on the fact that it was Newcastle boss Eddie Howe that first signed Ramsdale at Bournemouth and gave him his breakthrough in the Premier League, it suggests that he’ll come in to replace Pope as No.1 due to the pair’s strong working relationship.
Ramsdale, like Pope, is an excellent shot-stopper, but the real benefit Newcastle will see from playing the 27-year-old is that he’s much better with his feet than the former Burnley man which is increasingly important in the modern game. Newcastle had been looking for a goalkeeper with better ball-playing abilities throughout the last two summer windows, and had been long linked with James Trafford before his return to Manchester City.
Ramsdale at this time has achieved more in the Premier League than Trafford, and should prove a worthwhile signing. And at the very least if it doesn’t work out and he fails to make an impression, he’s only cost the St. James’ Park outfit a £4m loan fee and there’s no obligation for the club to make the deal permanent if they decide he’s not worth the fee. Therefore this is a very sensible, clever signing that goes under the radar but could be a masterstroke. However, there’s still plenty of pressing issues on the transfer front that Newcastle must deal with in order to be equipped for the new campaign.