There’s no real joy as a fan when it comes to your team signing a backup goalkeeper, but it’s a horrible situation if your starter goes down and there’s nobody trustworthy to step in.
Arsenal saw that with Runar Runarsson last season as he didn’t seem to be up to Premier League standard at all, and it led to Maty Ryan joining from Brighton in the winter window.
He’s a solid keeper who was clearly rated by Mikel Arteta and he even got the chance to play in a few games, so it made a lot of sense when Football.London reported that he was expected to be Arsenal’s first signing this summer.
They even went as far to say that an announcement was being readied so that looked done and dusted, but everything went quiet and it now looks like a return to La Liga is on the cards instead:
El australiano Matt Ryan, es el portero elegido https://t.co/1QnRNlNdm9
— El Diario Vasco (@diariovasco) July 3, 2021
He’s played in Spain with Valencia in the past, while that report claims Real Sociedad are now looking to sign him on loan next season as a replacement for their starter last season.
If he wants to be the first-choice stopper then that transfer would be the better option, so this looks like the most likely outcome for Ryan next season.