Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has revealed he has been playing with a broken knuckle since the World Cup.
Ramsdale, 24, has been in sensational form this term for the Gunners, who are five points clear at the summit of the Premier League. His impressive performances earned him a spot in the England squad that reached the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar in December.
The former Sheffield United shot-stopper remains behind Jordan Pickford in the international pecking order and didn't actually feature in the Middle East. But Ramsdale has since revealed that he picked up a nasty souvenir from his spell at the tournament in the form of a broken knuckle.
Speaking on The Fellas podcast, Ramsdale revealed he'd been playing in special gloves for the past few weeks due to the injury. He said: "I’ll tell you something about those gloves, if you look at the two middle fingers, there’s no gap. I broke my knuckle at the World Cup, so I’ve had to play, since the World Cup, with gloves like that."
Despite his knuckle issue, Ramsdale has still been an ever-present for the Gunners and has managed to clock up two clean sheets in the Premier League since the domestic campaign resumed after Christmas. Over the past month, Arsenal have registered four wins and a draw to maintain their advantage at the top of the league ahead of defending-champions Manchester City.
There had been fears that the loss of Gabriel Jesus could derail Arsenal's title bid after the Brazilian striker was forced to undergo knee surgery to amend an issue he picked up during the World Cup.
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Jesus is expected to be sidelined until March with the issue, but Eddie Nketiah has stepped up in the former Manchester City man's absence to breath new life into Arsenal's title tilt. The Hale End graduate has been in electric form since the turn of the year and bagged a brace, including the late winner, in last weekend's huge 3-2 win over Manchester United.
Ramsdale has insisted that Arsenal are in safe hands with 23-year-old, who he insists is probably the most underrated player at the Gunners' London Colney headquarters. When he was asked to name the club's most underrated player, Ramsdale responded: "At Arsenal, I’d probably say Eddie Nketiah.
"I know people have recently been saying how well he’s doing, which is all well and good. He’s very good, Eddie Nketiah is very, very good. People just say he needs to score more. Watch the last few games, his link-up play is just as good as everyone talks about Jesus and his link-up play is incredible."
