Mikel Arteta has thanked Brendan Rodgers after the Leicester City manager described Aaron Ramsdale as England's best goalkeeper following their teams' Premier League clash on Sunday.
Ramsdale was in fine form once again as Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners, pulling off a spectacular save to deny Harvey Barnes from drawing Leicester level late in the first half. Having exclaimed "wow" and given the Gunners goalkeeper a round of applause on the touchline, Rodgers offered a compliment post-match, with Ramsdale's stock rapidly rising thanks to his stunning performances.
"For me he's the best English keeper at the moment. I think he's top," the Foxes boss stated. "His progression since he came to Arsenal, he's playing for a huge club, different expectation with how to play football, I think he's dealt with that really well. It looks like he's come into the club here, he's playing now with a calmness.
"We saw him earlier this season and he was jumping about, but now he's got a really nice calmness to his game. He plays well with his feet, he makes saves, his save from Barnes looked in all the way, that was a great save and it kept Arsenal in front."
Asked about Rodgers' comments ahead of Arsenal's match against Liverpool on Wednesday, Arteta offered a classy response. "Well, first, thanks to Brendan for thinking that way," the Gunners manager began. "I think Aaron has to take those words to give him confidence and support in what he's doing."
"I've always said he's been exceptional since the day we signed him, not only on the pitch, but what he transmitted, what he brought to the building, to the club, outside with his character and personality and that’s the kind of people that we want to bring to the club."
The 23-year-old is set to be one of four Arsenal players called up to Gareth Southgate's squad for the upcoming internationals later this month. With that in mind, Arteta reckons that having a core of English stars at the club has been beneficial for Ramsdale, who joined the club last August in transfer deal from Sheffield United worth up to £30million.
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"Certainly, and you can see the understanding and the chemistry that he has with some of those," the Spaniard added. "The fact that they knew each other for many years, that is always helpful and that speeds up the process of any adaptation when it's always difficult at a new club."
And on the topic of England's finest, Arteta was quizzed whether or not he believes that Benjamin White has become the Three Lions' best centre-back since his own summer arrival in north London. "I don't know, we are really happy with his performances, how he has adapted, what he brings to the team certainly," he admitted.
"Hopefully he can get rewarded, because the way that he trains, he looks at himself and the performances that he's having. He is certainly creating that attention, from a lot of people." One of Ramsdale and White's biggest tests since moving to the Emirates is set to come on Wednesday when Liverpool come to town.
Having already faced them three times this season and failing to win a single game, the Gunners are determined to show what they are made of under the Emirates lights.
"We are playing better, we have an understanding of what we want. We have the right level of confidence, belief and understanding with each other and everything clicks better and quicker," Arteta affirmed.
"We're going to play against arguably the best team or the second-best team in the league. Liverpool are a team that is in great form and we're certainly going to have to play at our best to beat them."
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