Ramsdale, who has two-and-a-half-years remaining on his contract in north London, has featured just five times for the Gunners in the Premier League this season, with one of which coming against Brentford – a fixture where Raya was ineligible to play against his parent club.
Despite his impressive performances when called upon, Ramsdale has struggled to force himself back into Arteta’s side and, while he may be inclined to find a new club this month, Merson has urged him to stay put. Speaking on Sky Sports, as quoted by the Metro, the former Arsenal midfielder claimed that neither Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United would be able to sign him.
“Goalkeeper signed a contract, it’s the way it rolls,” said Merson.
“It’s horrible but that’s the way it is. He signed a contract. They brought in another goalie, he’s number one at the moment. He’s got to fight for his place, it’s as simple as that.
“When you sign these contracts for £100,000, £150,000-a-week, you can’t just go, ‘Oh I’m not in the team. I’m leaving tomorrow morning, I wanna play somewhere else’. It’s a horrible position for goalkeepers. It’s very, very unusual if you can get two top drawer goalkeepers, which Arsenal have got.
“But where are you going to go? You’re not going to Liverpool, you’re not going to Manchester United. The only one I can see is Chelsea and I don’t see Arsenal selling to Chelsea.
“So for me, I think he’ll have to fight for his place. The only positive I would say at the moment is he’s only young and goalkeeper is the only position in that the older you get, probably the better you get.
“With an outfield player, when you get to 30 you’re half done in this day and age, so there’s a positive there. But he signed his contract. He’ll have to swallow it.”
If Arsenal were to offload Ramsdale this month, it remains to be seen how much the Gunners would demand for the England international. However, the CIES Football Observatory currently value him at €60million (£51.6million) – which would be quite the investment for Chelsea, Liverpool and United.
