Romano reveals Arsenal target to compete with David Raya as Gunners agree £25m exit

Arsenal have agreed a £25m deal with Southampton for Aaron Ramsdale as transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reveals the Gunners top target to replace the England international.

Ramsdale found himself out of the team last season after Arsenal signed David Raya from Brentford in a loan deal that was made permanent this summer.

Newcastle, Chelsea, Ajax and Wolves have all been linked with Ramsdale this summer, but reports suggested they had all been put off by his frankly ludicrous £50m price tag.

But Southampton’s interest has endured and the Saints have now persuaded the Gunners to allow Ramsdale to join them for just £25m.

It’s claimed Southampton have agreed to pay £18m with up to £7m in add-ons and it’s now looking ‘positive’ the deal will get done, Sky Sports reported on Wednesday.

Arsenal have been linked with Wigan’s Sam Tickle to replace their second-choice goalkeeper, but The Athletic revealed last month that the Gunners were looking at Espanyol’s Joan Garcia as a ‘contingent plan’ should Ramsdale be sold.

Garcia – who has a £21m release clause in his contract – has always been ‘high’ on Arteta’s list of potential replacements and is the ‘likely target’ to compete with Raya this season.

Romano confirmed on X that they ‘are prepared to go for him in the next 24h!’

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Former Arsenal goalkeeper and club legend David Seaman will be pleased by Ramsdale’s departure having urged the 26-year-old to leave in search of regular football last month.

Seaman said : “I’ve always said Aaron is too good to be a number two. He’s a fantastic player. He needs to play. Wherever that is, I don’t know.

“It’s a weird situation. Ideally, you’d love him to stay because that would be great for the club.

“But he needs to move for his career. And that includes England because, if he’s not playing, he’ll keep dropping down the pecking order with them.”

Ramsdale’s arrival would take Southampton’s summer spend over the £100m mark, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Manchester City, £20m) and Flynn Downes (West Ham, £18m) among their big-money arrivals.

Despite what is a significant outlay for the newly promoted club, manager Russell Martin said on Wednesday that he is convinced their business this summer has been good for the “long and short-term future of the club”.

“We’ve done good business this window,” Martin said.

“18 months to two years ago in the January window, it was very much about spending money for here and now because we need to stay in the Premier League.

“We all agreed we wouldn’t do that and potentially put the club in a dangerous position down the line. We have made signings for now and players who are going to also be really good over a long period of time.”