Southampton have welcome Aaron Ramsdale dilemma after West Ham show their hand | OneFootball

Southampton are reported to have been offered an acceptable transfer fee by West Ham United for goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale

Southampton have opened negotiations with West Ham United for the sale of former England shot-stopper, Aaron Ramsdale.

According to talkSPORT, the offer, said to be in the region of £20 million, should appeal to the Saints, who need to balance their books after relegation to the Championship.

Hammers' boss Graham Potter is said to be an admirer of Southampton keeper Ramsdale. The former Bournemouth and Sheffield United shot-stopper joined the Saints last summer from Arsenal in a four-year deal worth £25 million. The St Mary's club paid an initial £18 million with a further £7million in add-ons, as per BBC Sport.

Ramsdale is a difficult player to replace

Southampton will find Ramsdale a difficult player to replace. He made a whopping 125 saves behind the leakiest defence in the Premier League last season. Only Mark Flekken, Brentford's Dutch keeper, made more saves than Ramsdale (153), according to Statmuse.com.

Southampton v Fulham - St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain - April 26, 2025 Southampton's Aaron Ramsdale reacts Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

Despite being resigned to losing the player, the Saints would welcome the opportunity to reduce the wage bill by £100,000 per week - the sum reportedly being paid to Ramsdale for his services.

Ramsdale replacement fails his medical

Saints had already lined up Feyenoord goalkeeper Justin Bijlow to replace Ramsdale. However, following a failed medical, his transfer to the South Coast club was cancelled, prompting the Netherlands international to take to social media to make the announcement that the move was off, as per the Echo.

The news was met with indifference online. AllSaintsFC (@Allsaintsnews98) highlighted that Bijlow had a poor record in 2024/25 and had been out injured since January 2025 with a knee injury.

The Saints scouts may have been more impressed by Bijlow's historical performance, particularly his form in the 2022/23 season when he conceded 5.81 goals fewer than xGOT* over the course of the season, keeping 12 clean sheets in the process.

Bijlow's failed medical leaves Southampton with a welcome dilemma. Whilst the reputed offer of £20 million for Ramsdale leaves Southampton with plenty of cash to play with to source a very good replacement for the Championship, there are no guarantees that they will be able to find that player.

Ramsdale has been one of the few bright spots in a very dark season for the Saints. His inspired man-of-the-match performance against Manchester City enabled Southampton to climb to 12 points and escape the label of being the joint-worst Premier League team in the history of the competition.

There are increasing concerns among Southampton fans about Gavin Bazunu's performances for Southampton in recent years, and he did not impress while on loan at Standard Liege. It seems unlikely that Bazunu will be Southampton number one next season. With confidence in Bazunu so low, Johannes Spors and Will Still must work quickly to identify a replacement.

One of the stand-out goalkeepers in the EFL this season has been Tottenham's young keeper Josh Keeley, who has been out on loan with Leyton Orient.

Keeley's save percentage, in a season that took Leyton Orient to the brink of promotion, was 75.4%, the third highest in the division. Sadly Keeley's semi-error in the play-off final will overshadow what was an excellent season for the 23-year-old Irish keeper.

Should Southampton choose to go after a more established high-quality keeper, they could do worse than take a look at 22-year-old Konstantinos Tzolakis of Olympiacos. Tzolakis boasts the highest number of clean sheets in both the 2024/25 domestic league and the 2024/25 Europa League. His save percentage in the Europa League was 80.6%, one of the highest in the competition, as per fotmob.com.

Whatever route Southampton choose to go down, the option to sell Aaron Ramsdale is a welcome dilemma given the money that it's going to be bringing into the club.