Arsenal completing a move for Aaron Ramsdale

Aaron Ramsdale is set to complete a move to Arsenal for £24m with £6m add-ons. The Sheffield United goalkeeper was left out of the squad last night in their clash against West Bromwich Albion. Sheffield United manager Slavisa Jokanovic told Yorkshire Live, "They [Arsenal] are the principal club pushing for him. In this moment there does not exist any change, we will see what happens in the future."

The 23-year-old is a consistent starter for Sheffield, but he will expect to be a backup to Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno with this move. With the amount in the fee, and the add-ons needing Ramsdale to start, it does provide insight into Arsenal about the future of Leno. It appears that this move will provide competition for the starting job, and with Leno having less than two years left on his contract, Ramsdale may be the future goalkeeper for the Gunners.

The Athletic reported that Sheffield United was initially demanding £40m for Ramsdale, who won Sheffield United's player of the season last year. Arsenal seemed to be so turned off from the initial demand that transfer talks collapsed. However, the Gunners returned to the table and raised their initial offer of £18m to a new proposal that Sheffield United agreed. From a blades perspective, it makes sense why Sheffield United wanted more money because the blades spent £18.5m last season on Ramsdale.

With the Ramsdale move, Bournemouth will receive 15 percent of any transfer over £19m after Sheffield United originally bought Ramsdale from the Cherries. In addition, Arsenal's current backup goalkeeper Alex Runarsson is subject to a move, and with the Ramsdale transfer, expect Arsenal to move Runarsson before the end of the transfer window.

Many fans are reluctantly optimistic about the Ramsdale move, but this is a good transfer. Arsenal has serious issues moving the ball outside of their defensive third, which is a critical element of Arteta's style of play. Leno has looked frantic with the ball at his feet and has made crucial errors when deciding the best pass to one of his teammates. If it were just a loss of possession and Arsenal could recover, it wouldn't be a significant issue, but Arsenal has conceded several goals because of the passing ability from Leno. Ramsdale being such a young goalkeeper will provide a better mold for Arteta and what he is looking to achieve for the club's future.

The Gunners take on Chelsea on Sunday and hope to have both Ramsdale and Ødegaard available for the match. However, it's reported that both players are completing their medicals today, and it'll be unclear if there is enough time (especially in the COVID-19 era) to complete all the paperwork before Friday's deadline to submit their squad for the match.

Arsenal will continue to be extremely busy in the remaining days of the transfer window. Incoming transfers may be put on pause because Arsenal will need to move some of their deadwood out first. It includes players like Willian, Mohamed Elneny, Hector Bellerin, Alexandre Lacazette, and possibly others. With Martin Ødegaard returning to the Emirates, expect Arsenal to focus on a right-back and a striker once some of those players are sold.