Arsenal icon Jens Lehmann has slammed Mikel Arteta for the goalkeeper situation involving Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya. The former Germany international has stated that he fails to understand the reason behind the Gunners signing Raya despite having Ramsdae who hardly put a foot wrong.
It was an eyebrow-raising deal when Arsenal secured the signing of Raya in the summer of 2023 on loan from Brentford. The north London giants also have the option to make the deal permanent for a £27 million fee which looks likely to be triggered.
While Ramsdale started the season as the first-choice between the sticks, he soon fell down the pecking order behind Raya. However, Jens Lehmann has slammed Arteta for his decision to bring Raya and benching Ramsdale insisting that the move did not make any sense.
The invincible Premier League winner with Arsenal was quoted as saying by The Boot Room:
“I never ever understood the Ramsdale decision. If you have a good, brave English keeper at a big English club doing well and then you bring in a Spanish guy who’s never played for a big club at that level – it just doesn’t make sense.”
“The keeper is the most important position in the team. If I were Ramsdale, I don’t know how I would react because it’s not easy at that age. When you’re older, it’s different,” Lehmann added.
Ramsdale has made just 11 appearances across competitions this season while Raya has appeared 38 times. Raya has done pretty well overall but has often made costly mistakes.