Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale might have to leave Arsenal after losing his place to David Raya in the last three games, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have said.
Ramsdale was surprisingly dropped by Arteta for the Premier League game at Everton the weekend before last as summer signing David Raya started at Goodison Park.
Raya was then kept in the team for the Champions League clash at home to PSV Eindhoven and stayed in the line-up for the third match in a row as Ramsdale was benched again for Sunday's north London derby against Tottenham.
"If it carries on like this, he is going to have to knock on the [manager's] door and say ‘look, I need to play football somewhere else if it carries on like this,’" Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast.
And Carragher, who was labelled a 'disgrace' by Ramsdale's father for saying on commentary that he thought the goalkeeper's applause of Raya's first-half save was just for the cameras, cannot see both being happy for long.
"It can't work," he said. "The only time you have two goalkeepers of the same ability is when they’re both not good enough. When you've got proper top-class goalkeeper – and it remains to be seen whether Raya is that – for Arteta to bring him in, he feels he's better than Ramsdale, so I'm totally with the manager. I think it's really ruthless.”
And he added: "Ramsdale has done well for him, I think he's a good goalkeeper, not a great one. Raya has still got to prove himself as a great goalkeeper and I think there is potential to take Arsenal to another level in the goalkeeping department.
"We have to remember Ramsdale was in this position himself on the flip side of it when he took [Bernd] Leno’s place so one of them will have to go, and it will be Ramsdale."
As could be expected from an Arsenal legend, Ian Wright's view was more balanced and he praised Ramsdale for his role over the past couple of years.
"When you look at Aaron Ramsdale's journey into Arsenal, when we were signing him, people were laughing at us," he said.
"Even Arsenal fans were saying he's had two relegations. Ramsdale has progressed to the point where a lot of what we have achieved, he's played a massive role in it.
"He came in and took Bernd Leno's place, and seeing David Raya come in and play as well as he is, there's going to be competition every week now. We saw on the Sky cameras where every save Raya made, the camera was panning to Ramsdale to see his reaction."
Wright added that he hopes Ramsdale can weather the storm and stay at Arsenal.
"We want to see him get through this adversity," he said. Mikel Arteta has brought him [Raya] in because, again, the margins. Put yourself in Aaron Ramsdale’s shoes – when you start hearing that David Raya is coming, you think ‘yeah okay,’ but then suddenly, he’s here, and not only that, he’s in the team. It’s not wrong because we're dealing with a professional game and it’s ruthless.
"The way he’s reacted on the cameras shows that Aaron Ramsdale is going to back the team. People don't understand, being in a dressing room where a team is trying to get somewhere – how ruthless that place is. Of course, you feel sorry for him but it’s what happens."
Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright were speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed Aaron Ramsdale's reaction after he was recently dropped and lost his place to summer signing David Raya.
Ramsdale had looked set to return for the derby on Sunday, but Raya started again and has now been preferred in each of the last three matches by Arteta.
And Ramsdale has already been linked with a move away from north London, with Chelsea and Bayern Munich reportedly keen on the England international.
