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‘No idea why Mikel Arteta let him go’: Pundit thinks £8m player is actually much better than two Arsenal stars
Tony Cascarino has hit out at Mikel Arteta for letting Bernd Leno leave Arsenal, insisting that he would have the Fulham goalkeeper ahead of Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya.
Cascarino was speaking to after the Gunners were held to a 2-2 draw by Marco Silva’s side at the Emirates at the weekend.
Unfortunately, the game included one nightmare moment for Aaron Ramsdale. He was beaten in the first minute by Andreas Pereira after a mistake from Bukayo Saka. Ramsdale had to quickly backpedal and was unable to prevent Pereira’s – potentially mishit – shot finding the bottom corner.
Cascarino criticises Arteta for letting Leno leave Arsenal
It was probably not what the England international needed with David Raya joining the club this summer. Certainly, there is now so much more scrutiny on his place in the team.
But Cascarino believes that he would have neither player in his team ahead of Bernd Leno, who, of course, was down the other end of the pitch in the Fulham net.
“There was always going to be pressure on Aaron Ramsdale this season, with David Raya joining from Brentford to provide competition for the gloves at Arsenal,” he told .
“Raya no doubt fancies his chances after Ramsdale was caught off his line for Fulham’s opening goal — but the man I think should be Arsenal No 1 was in the other goal. Bernd Leno is calm, composed and commanding. I have no idea why Mikel Arteta let him go.”
In fairness to Ramsdale, he spent a year as Leno’s rival. And once he claimed the number one spot, there were few calls from the supporters for the German to come back in.
Ramsdale has predominantly done an outstanding job at the Emirates. That was why the club’s decision to target Raya was so shocking. And in truth, it is hard to be too critical of anything Ramsdale did for the opening Fulham goal.
Leno has proved to be a very decent signing for Fulham at . And actually, he did very little wrong during his time at the Emirates.
But Arsenal have definitely moved forward over the last couple of years. And Ramsdale has clearly played a massive part in that progress.