AARON RAMSDALE has had enough of changing clubs and wants to spend the rest of his career with Arsenal.
And when you consider the England goalkeeper only turned 25 last Sunday, that is quite some commitment.
But after being released as a schoolboy by Bolton, loaned out to Worksop Town, Chesterfield and AFC Wimbledon and sold by Sheffield United (twice) and Bournemouth, it is hardly surprising he is ready to put down some roots.
And even the bitter disappointment at missing out on the Premier League title to Manchester City has not diminished his commitment to Mikel Arteta’s young Gunners.
Speaking for the first time since signing a new £125,000-a-week contract that could run until 2027, Ramsdale said: “My aim is to be at Arsenal for the next ten years and see out my career here.
“It’s very hard as a footballer to stay in one place for a long time, to create a home and have a family but I don’t want to move any more.
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“I want to be a mainstay at this club and do special things, win trophies and see just how far this team can go.
“You get new contracts for performing on the pitch and maybe exceeding expectations and this shows the faith the manager and the club have in me.
“After being top of the table for almost the entire season, we’re naturally very disappointed at the moment.
“But we’re up against a team who have just won 11 games in a row and for Arsenal this has been a hugely progressive season for a really young squad who will come back hungrier than ever.”
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Ramsdale acknowledged that taking just nine points from their last seven games has almost certainly cost Arsenal the chance of winning a first title since the historic 2003-04 Invincibles.
But he bristled at accusations that they have ‘bottled’ it and said: “That’s just a quick, cheap narrative from certain people who don’t have the knowledge or experience.
“They forget other teams in recent years have had the same experience of missing out on the title by a certain number of points and they haven’t done any digging into what we have achieved this season.
“So we’ll let them worry about people listening to their views because while we are disappointed, we’re also extremely proud of ourselves.”
Arsenal’s title hopes were effectively snuffed out by Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Brighton — which just happened to be Ramsdale’s birthday. Yet he refuses to allow the disappointment to overwhelm him.
Ramsdale added: “My mum and dad were down for the game, my brother and my fiancee were also there and we were able to go out to a local restaurant afterwards.
“Then on the Monday I went into London with Georgina and did a bit of shopping and wedding planning.
“And it’s good I could do all that because it would have been a long two days otherwise.
If I’d taken that advice after my first two years in the Premier League with Bournemouth and Sheffield United, I would have just been sat in a dark room on my own
Aaron Ramsdale
“People always say you can’t go out if you’ve lost a game but if I’d taken that advice after my first two years in the Premier League with Bournemouth and Sheffield United, I would have just been sat in a dark room on my own.
“So now I feel I’m able to switch off a bit more off the pitch.
“I’m not constantly thinking about football and what I should have done in the last game or need to do in the next one.
“Georgina has helped me a lot with that. Now I do more things with her, go for walks with my dog, play golf or go on bike rides. I’ve grown up a bit more.
“I still have time to see my friends but the clubbing side of it is not something I enjoy any more and living so close to London means I’m no longer desperate to go into town on a Saturday or Sunday night.”
Ramsdale even took birthday cake into the first team meeting following the Brighton defeat.
He revealed: “Mikel used the opportunity to remind us just how far we’ve come. He put on the board how we can still have the most Premier League wins by an Arsenal team and said it’s now all about not switching off and pressing the self-destruct button over the next two games.
“Even after our recent poor run, he’s always been very positive.
“He’ll restrain himself in the dressing room straight after the game because he doesn’t want to say the wrong thing. He always wants to see the bigger picture and he uses facts to back up what he says.
“He knows what we are trying to achieve, so he will always put a positive spin on it at the end of the meeting to make us walk out and remember the last little bit.”
Ramsdale has come under fire at certain times this season for engaging too much with fans. But he makes no apologies.
He added: “Rightly or wrongly, the fans pay their money and they get to say whatever they want when you’re at your place of work.
“Sometimes you just don’t want to take it, so you give them a bit back.
“But once I engage in conversation with the crowd I have pressure on me — because if I mess up they’re going to come down on me hard.
“But that added pressure actually helps, especially away from home.
“It’s harder for me at the Emirates because if I make a mistake there I’ve got 55,000 Arsenal fans disappointed in me.
“If I make a mistake away from home, I don’t care if there are 40,000 singing at me or saying it’s my fault because it has nothing to do with me as a person.
“Normally, the fans are all good. Even Tottenham away was taken in really good spirits by the people I was actually having banter with.
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“Liverpool is a good example. You get applauded by the Kop when you come out for the second half and 30 seconds later you’re getting hammered.
“But at the end of the game they give you a clap and show respect. And that’s the way I like it.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
