Newcastle United told to move for £22m Arsenal star 'mugged off' by Mikel Arteta

Newcastle United should should take advantage of Aaron Ramsdale’s situation at Arsenal by making a summer move for the England stopper.

That was the verdict of former Magpies striker Andrew Cole, who accused Gunners manager Mikel Arteta of ‘mugging off’ the former Sheffield United number one. Ramsdale made a move to the Emirates Stadium during the summer of 2021 after the Gunners agreed a deal that could be worth up to £30m and has gone on to make over 90 appearances for the Gunners over the last three seasons.

However, the surprise arrival of Brentford goalkeeper David Raya on a season-long loan deal has limited Ramsdale’s involvement during the current campaign to just ten starts in all competitions, with just six coming in the Premier League. That has caused some speculation suggesting Ramsdale’s chances of securing a place in England’s Euro 2024 Finals squad could be at risk - although he was named in the Three Lions ranks for last month’s friendly double header against Belgium and Brazil.

With talk over his future still making headlines, Ramsdale is said to be a target for Newcastle as the Magpies face some major decisions over their goalkeeping ranks this summer. Nick Pope is expected to reclaim his position as Eddie Howe’s first choice when he returns from the shoulder injury he suffered in a 1-0 home win against Manchester United in December. However, the picture for United’s other stoppers remains less than clear, with Martin Dubravka unlikely to want to spend another season acting as backup to Pope and both Loris Karius and Mark Gillespie set to leave St James Park when their current contracts come to an end during the summer.

Ramsdale is one of a number of goalkeepers to be linked with a move to Tyneside during the summer transfer window - and former United striker Cole believes the Gunners star would ‘do a good job’ for his old club.

He told Betfred: “Nine times out of ten, when a player moves to a different club, they’re meant to be their new club’s number one centre-forward, centre-half, goalkeeper or whatever it may be.  If Aaron makes the move, he will be Newcastle’s number one goalkeeper.  I think he’s been hard done by, I really do. 

He was so good for Arsenal last season and then all of a sudden, Mikel Arteta has gone out and got a new goalkeeper and initially claimed that he had two number ones, which was complete nonsense from day one.  The way he’s disregarded Ramsdale has been really disrespectful. He’s mugged him off basically.  I like how he goes about his business and he deserves to be treated with a bit more respect, so if he does move on from Arsenal, then he certainly would do a good job at Newcastle.”