Chelsea will need to fork out a huge £50m fee if they want to prise Aaron Ramsdale away from Arsenal next month amid claims Mauricio Pochettino has set his sights on landing the out-of-favour Gunners keeper in January.
The 25-year-old England squad star has lost his place as Arsenal No 1 this season to summer signing David Raya, who despite some very obvious mistakes, appears to have Mikel Arteta’s unwavering support to keep goal for the Gunners. That has left Ramsdale, signed in a £25m deal from Sheffield United in August 2021, kicking his heels on the sidelines and wondering when his next action for Arsenal will come around.
As a result, speculation on Ramsdale’s future has not been far from the gossip columns. He’s been linked with a possible move to Newcastle given the dislocated shoulder injury suffered by Nick Pope recently that will sideline the Magpies No 1 until March at the earliest.
And while Martin Dubravka has been trusted to fill in during 31-year-old’s absence, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is aware he needs more strength in depth to help navigate their way through a tricky phase of the season.
Funds, however, do look tight at Newcastle and any attempts to sign Ramsdale will likely be in a loan approach only; an offer we revealed that Arsenal will have no trouble batting away.
It’s a similar situation now facing Chelsea, who have also been linked with a move for four-times capped England keeper Ramsdale in recent weeks.
And having lost regular No 1 Robert Sanchez to a knee injury, the extent of which is still being assessed, talk of an approach from Chelsea for Ramsdale is now heating up.
Chelsea step up chase for Aaron Ramsdale as Arsenal name price
Now talkSPORT claim Chelsea boss Pochettino is ready to make Ramsdale a priority signing at Stamford Bridge in January amid fears that Spaniard Sanchez faces a prolonged spell on the sidelines.
Having been withdrawn in the closing stages in the 2-0 defeat at Everton, Pochettino gave a Premier League debut to Serbian keeper Djordje Petrovic, who now looks set for an extended spell in the side.
But it’s reported that Pochettino feels Chelsea need more experience in the position and, as a result, will step up his pursuit for Ramsdale with the winter window officially opening for business in just 16 days.
Arsenal counterpart Arteta, however, will not make such a deal so easy and has reportedly responded by slapping a £50m asking price on the player’s head.
And despite dropping Ramsdale to the bench, Arteta knows he too would be leaving himself exposed should Raya suffer injury or suspension, with untested 21-year-old Karl Hein next in line.
As a result, Arsenal would demand a whopping £50m to part with their No 2 at the midway point of the season.
Arsenal would use funds for their own team strengthening
That fee would be prohibitive to most, but might not actually be enough to ward off Chelsea, who usually get what they want once they put their minds to something.
Arsenal would likely use any financial windfall to go towards their own team strengthening, with a new midfielder and a new striker on their January wishlist.
However, the sale of Ramsdale would also leave Arteta needing a new No 2 and he would also need to allocate some of those funds on a stand-in keeper too.
In the meantime, Petrovic will likely be given the chance to prove what he is about with his first Chelsea start during Saturday’s Premier League clash against Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.
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