Mikel Arteta set for fresh Arsenal meeting with Aaron Ramsdale after David Raya U-turn vindication

Aaron Ramsdale will return to the Emirates Stadium this weekend where he will be lining up opposite the man who stole his place and prompted his exit.

It’s more than a year since Mikel Arteta decided to demote Aaron Ramsdale in favour of David Raya.

“We have a very healthy relationship - there are no problems,” the usurper insisted regarding his relationship with Ramsdale in mid-October.

Arteta’s claim of goalkeeper rotation was dismissed by Halloween with Raya starting the proceeding eight games after his Gunners league debut against Everton, despite dropping a clanger against Chelsea. “Errors are part of football,” reasoned Arteta, batting off re-rotation inferences.

And with that, Ramsdale was suddenly a cup goalkeeper and reservist. The England goalkeeper played just 11 games last term, five of which came before he was relegated to back-up.

The only surprise in Ramsdale’s summer exit was how late he managed to secure the move to Southampton. A £25million deadline day move to the Saints has seen him swap the second-best team in the league for the current second-worst.

He will return to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday with grit in his teeth and a point to prove with the shot-stopper yet to record a clean sheet in his first four Southampton matches. Getting off the mark against his old employers would soothe scars.

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But 12 months on, Arteta has seen his goalkeeper call vindicated. Raya has been the most in-form custodian so far this season, producing several astonishing saves.

He already has five clean sheets to thank his defence for, which is already a quarter of last season’s tally, and is tied at the top of league chart with three blanks to his name. He has improved his save ratio by 20% to 83%, too.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel believes he is closing in on Ederson in becoming the best shot-stopper in the top flight. “The best keeper in the Premier League? Ederson, for sure. David Raya is coming close now too,” he told The Overlap.

“Once he got established as Arsenal’s number one and that competition situation got out of the way and Aaron Ramsdale left, there was a different aura around him. He’s played well and has kept his team in a few games.

“He’s made some important saves. He has also eradicated all those mistakes that he made from having to be a good footballer.”

Raya is visibly growing in confidence with every big save and collected ball. His growth can be gaged from the draw at Manchester City, putting in an assertive showing after looking somewhat shaky against the champions in previous fixtures. Arteta took the risk and backed his choice. And it’s paying off.