Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed his thoughts on club goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who recently penned down a new contract with the club. The 25-year-old shotstopper has impressed in the 2022/23 campaign with 13 cleansheets to his name and several breathtaking saves to go with alongside.
A reward for his brilliant performances all through the season was a long-term improved contract and Mikel Arteta says the Englishman is more than deserving of his new deal.
Ramsdale will remain the club’s no.1 goalkeeper as the Gunners head into the Champions League next season and Arteta is of no doubt that the 25-year-old can only get better.
Arteta pleased with Ramsdale’s new deal
“We are delighted with the news for Aaron,” Mikel said in his pre-Nottingham Forest press conference. “He fully deserves that new contract, that extension, and obviously we want to keep our talent at the club and build on that.
“There are a few more that are very relevant for us to continue with that relationship and we are working on that.
“We have built that core and that foundation. There’s a lot of quality, a lot of youth, a lot of enthusiasm, but as well surrounded by a lot of good people with the right experience, with a lot of leadership around them.
“We have to continue to do that because the demands, the expectations, the challenges next season will be even higher. We cannot get confused of where we are today and have a lot of clarity for how we’re going to get where we want [to be] in the next seasons.
“It’s continuing to do 80 per cent of the things we are doing really well and just trying to win margins and find improvements and ways to be better in other areas.
“Whether it’s improving players, whether it’s improving processes, improving with recruitment. We have certain margins that are very important for us to get to another level.”
If Ramsdale can keep a clean sheet against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday, he will tie the record for most away clean sheets in a single campaign, with the record currently held by Manchester City’s Ederson.
While Arsenal as a unit might have faltered in the latter stages of the season, Ramsdale remains one of the Gunners’ top performers all through the course of the campaign and will now be aiming to do even better in the 2023/24 campaign.
