Mikel Arteta says he knew Aaron Ramsdale was the goalkeeper he wanted to sign for Arsenal after being impressed by his “energy and presence” when the Gunners faced Sheffield United.
Arsenal faced Sheffield United twice during the 2020-21 season and on both occasions Ramsdale was in goal for them.
The Gunners were on the hunt for a new goalkeeper that season after selling Emi Martinez to Aston Villa the previous summer for £20million.
Alex Runarsson had failed to impress after joining from Dijon for around £1.5m, while Mat Ryan only joined on loan in January.
Arsenal eventually swooped for Ramsdale in the summer of 2021, agreeing a deal with Sheffield United that will eventually be worth £30m.
And asked when he knew Ramsdale was the goalkeeper he wanted, Arteta said: “When we played against him.
“And obviously I watched him a lot and that presence and that energy he had, I thought this is the one.
“He has been really, really good and probably against the odds because when you look at his past and where he was coming from, he got relegated twice, it was difficult to imagine it.
“But we saw he had that character, charisma and personality to play for our club and he had the potential qualities to feed into our way of playing.
“When you see the development he had the past two seasons, I think he is exceptional. The first day I was on the phone to him, I said: ‘Let’s do it, let’s do it’. Because you have that feeling, you sense when someone is mentally [strong].
“And any question you ask him to see how he will answer, he is ready for it, he has seen ahead, he knows what is coming and he knows what he wants and he feels capable of doing it.
“He has no fear, he was just looking at the challenge ahead of him and that is what you want.”
Ramsdale has excelled this season, playing a key role in Arsenal climbing to the top of the Premier League and being six points clear of Manchester City with eight games to go.
The goalkeeper put in a brilliant performance at Anfield last week as the Gunners drew 2-2 with Liverpool, making a stunning late save to stop Mohamed Salah.
It completes a remarkable turnaround for the 24-year-old, who received so much abuse when he joined Arsenal that he turned off the comments on his social media posts.
“That abuse was happening just before he played his first game,” said Arteta. “So you haven’t even played and you’re getting that abuse.
“So you need to separate that, understand where it’s coming from and now start to do your job.
“And then you’re going to be judged for what you’ve done on the pitch, and that’s a different kind of judgement.
“It was tough, he needed some support and we had to protect him - but he was ready to handle that.
“He knew that was going to happen, we discussed that before: you’re coming from this situation, you’re going to Arsenal and you’re going to have a lot of question marks over your head. And you have to do that.
“If not, obviously you go and pay £85m for a goalkeeper who’s won everything – you don’t have those questions, that’s a different story. We weren’t in that position.
“First of all talk about it: this is coming, don’t react, be proactive and discuss it, and expect it and get away from it. Don’t read it. That’s not going to help.
“You obviously need individuals to perform at the highest level and you certainly need your keeper to be very impressive in certain moments.
“Every team that has won titles, the goalkeeper is a key contributor. Aaron has been really really good this season.”
