Aaron Ramsdale admits Mikel Arteta’s persistence convinced him about joining Arsenal.
The goalkeeper moved to Emirates Stadium in the summer from Sheffield United after Arsenal agreed to pay an initial fee of around £24million.
After that offer was accepted, Ramsdale held talks with Arteta and he has revealed how the Spaniard convinced him to head to north London.
“The phonecalls [from Arteta] after the ball got rolling once the bid had been accepted were instrumental for me,” Ramsdale told That Peter Crouch Podcast.
“It’s not only the phone calls I had. As soon as I got there he told me to be myself and try and shake the changing room up and be confident.
“There were definitely people saying, ‘Hold on a minute’. I’d just been relegated for the second time and £24m is a lot of money, especially for what was reported as a No2. It was getting some criticism.
“I didn’t think when I signed that I’d be in straight away. The manager was up front with me and said, ‘It might take you a year, it might take you six months but we don’t see you as a No2, it just depends on how the team is doing’.
“I think thankfully for me we were in a tough moment at the start of the season and I got thrown in and I managed to just play with some of my confidence and stayed in the team.
“I think it always helps when, obviously, Bernd [Leno] is a top keeper and a professional, it’s so much easier to stay switched on.”
