Aaron Ramsdale has revealed how phone calls from Mikel Arteta played a key role in him joining Arsenal last summer.
The goalkeeper moved to Emirates Stadium in the summer from Sheffield United after Arsenal agreed to pay an initial fee of around £24million.
After that offer was accepted, Ramsdale held talks with Arteta and he has revealed how the Spaniard convinced him to head to north London.
“The phonecalls [from Arteta] after the ball got rolling once the bid had been accepted were instrumental for me,” Ramsdale told That Peter Crouch Podcast.
“It’s not only the phone calls I had. As soon as I got there he told me to be myself and try and shake the changing room up and be confident.
“There were definitely people saying, ‘Hold on a minute’. I’d just been relegated for the second time and £24m is a lot of money, especially for what was reported as a No2. It was getting some criticism.
“I didn’t think when I signed that I’d be in straight away. The manager was up front with me and said, ‘It might take you a year, it might take you six months but we don’t see you as a No2, it just depends on how the team is doing’.
“I think thankfully for me we were in a tough moment at the start of the season and I got thrown in and I managed to just play with some of my confidence and stayed in the team.
“I think it always helps when, obviously, Bernd [Leno] is a top keeper and a professional, it’s so much easier to stay switched on.”
