Arsenal look to sign former England youth goalkeeper from Premier League side | OneFootball

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·19 January 2021

Arsenal look to sign former England youth goalkeeper from Premier League side

Article image:Arsenal look to sign former England youth goalkeeper from Premier League side

Arsenal lucked into a situation where they had two genuinely top quality keepers in Leno and Martinez in their squad last year, but that was never going to be a sustainable situation.

Martinez eventually moved on in the summer and Runar Runarsson was brought in as the backup instead, but he’s not impressed in his few outings so far.


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All you really want from the number two keeper is a solid choice who won’t let you down when they’re called upon, but the Icelandic keeper actually looks like a weak link so Mikel Arteta will be in real trouble if Leno goes down for a few games.

They also allowed Matt Macey to join Hibs this month so another keeper does look like a requirement, while Goal have indicated that Newcastle keeper Freddie Woodman has now emerged as a January target.

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Woodman has played over 50 times for England at various youth levels and he’s also made over 100 senior appearances through several loan spells but he’s yet to play a Premier League game.

He’s currently on loan with Swansea in the Championship so Newcastle would need to recall him first before selling him to the Gunners.

It would be an interesting move for Woodman because he would effectively give up a first team role in the Championship to sit on the bench at the Emirates, so it could come down to how much he backs himself to force his way into the team.

He would be another signing like Runarsson in that there’s little chance he would push Leno for the starting role, but it’s unlikely he’ll cost a huge fee so it’s a signing that would make sense.

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