Arteta could hand ‘phenomenal’ £7.5m Arsenal talent his PL debut, another potential Edu hit – TBR View
Arsenal have fared pretty well in the transfer market over the past 15 months.
Last summer, the likes of Aaron Ramsdale and Ben White arrived at the Emirates Stadium.
There was a mixed reaction from Arsenal fans to their signings, but both have since become fan favourites.
With Leno looking like he’d be wanting to leave the Emirates, Edu and Mikel Arteta got in early to sign a replacement.
They agreed a deal with New England Revolution for Matt Turner, who subsequently joined in the summer.
At around £7.5million, the 28-year-old didn’t break the bank for Arsenal.
Admittedly, the Gunners didn’t do so well last time they signed a deputy goalkeeper on a permanent basis.
Alex Runarsson ended up making just one appearance for Arsenal, and has since taken in two loan spells away.
It doesn’t look as though this’ll be the case with Turner, who has already made three outings for the Gunners.
These have come in the Europa League, and he has kept clean sheets in two of those.
‘Really good’
Better still, Arteta spoke at length about Turner after the 1-0 win at Bodo/Glimt.
The Arsenal boss confirmed he’d be happy to play the United States international keeper in the Premier League.
“He’s improving, he’s getting better, we are demanding things that are different to what other managers have demanded him to do,” Arteta told the Arsenal website.
“He was much better in the first half than the second half.
“In my opinion we can have more control, he was phenomenal in goal. The way he reads the situation, especially the defending the back of the central defenders, when he needs to control the space there, the way he set himself in the one on one situation he had, was really good.”
On whether he is confident in Turner starting a Premier League game, Arteta simply said: “Yes.”
A second-choice goalkeeper is always a hard one for a club to get right.
You’ve got to have a player who’s willing to spent the majority of his time at the club on the bench.
But at the same time, the player needs to be high-calibre, constantly work hard and be ready when called upon.
Turner – a boyhood Arsenal fan – seems to tick all those boxes.
He is certainly on the right path at the Emirates, and perhaps he can become another Edu hit.
