Whilst Mauricio Pochettino and Mikel Arteta remain firm friends off the pitch, the Chelsea and Arsenal managers could be at loggerheads in the January transfer window with the former looking to poach a current England international from the latter.
The Gunners are currently faring much better than the Blues and to that end it’s understandable why Pochettino might be looking to strengthen his squad in vital areas.
After a horror showing on Sunday by Robert Sanchez and David Raya, it’s clear that both managers have problems with their goalkeepers.
However, Arteta appears to have made his bed with regards to the Spaniard, and that’s prompted CaughtOffside columnist Ben Jacobs to suggest, via Si Phillips’ Talk Chelsea Substack (subscription required) that Chelsea will target the out-of-favour custodian, Aaron Ramsdale in January.
The England custodian will likely jump at the chance to move if the status quo at the Emirates Stadium remains the same until the new year.
That’s because he needs to be playing ahead of the European Championship to have any chance of making Gareth Southgate’s squad.
It isn’t clear what any transfer fee might be at this stage, and whilst publicly Arteta still appears to be supporting Ramsdale, the reality of the situation is that he hasn’t had a look in since Raya was installed as the Gunners No.1.
It would cost Chelsea over £60 million plus for the future England GoalKeeper. Not sure they could afford him, given the fact that Arsenal would not want to sell to a London rival team, it would cost Chelsea a lot of money to temp Arsenal to sell the England International as he is still very young with lots of experience. Arsenal do not need to sell.