Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has appeared to rubbish reports that he has already agreed to join Newcastle.
Reports from Sky Sports that emerged earlier on Friday claimed that the England stopper had given his approval to a summer switch to St James’ Park after losing his starting job under Mikel Arteta this season to Brentford loanee David Raya, who is expected to complete a permanent £27million move to north London imminently.
However, Ramsdale seemed to quash such speculation by taking to his official account on social media website X on Friday with the simple three-word message: “News to me.”
News to me 😂
— Aaron (@AaronRamsdale98) May 17, 2024
The Daily Telegraph subsequently claimed that Newcastle were indeed pushing ahead with a deal to sign the 26-year-old for a potential fee of around £15m as they seek competition for Eddie Howe’s current No1 Nick Pope, who has not played since December due to a serious shoulder injury but has been on the bench for the last two matches against Burnley and Manchester United and could presumably start against Brentford on the final day of the season this weekend.
35-year-old Martin Dubravka has mostly deputised in Pope’s absence, supported by Loris Karius and Mark Gillespie.
Newcastle seem to be looking to get a number of deals completed early this summer, having advanced in talks to sign both Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo and Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly on free transfers after an injury crisis in defence.
Howe previously worked with both Kelly and Ramsdale at Bournemouth, with the latter expected to move away from Arsenal this summer in a bid to revive his stalled career after playing second fiddle to Raya throughout the current campaign and being restricted to just 11 appearances across all competitions.
Chelsea have also been mentioned in connection with a surprise move for Ramsdale again this summer despite the arrival of two more new goalkeepers last year in Djordje Petrovic and Robert Sanchez, having been similarly linked heading into the January transfer window.
