‘He has to go now’: Pundit thinks it’s time for ‘incredible’ Edu signing to leave Arsenal this SUMMER
Brad Friedel believes Arsenal goal keeper Matt Turner will have to leave Arsenal in the near future if he isn’t going to be first-choice goalkeeper.
Pundit and former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Friedel has been speaking to Sporting Post about Turner – and thinks the goalkeeper may need to move on at the end of the season.
Ex-USA international Friedel notes that Turner has gone from playing regularly for New England Revolution to sitting on the Arsenal bench – all whilst Zack Steffen has gone from the Manchester City bench to starting for Middlesbrough.
That means Steffen now has a real chance of supplanting Turner in the USA goal, which isn’t ideal for the Arsenal stopper after starting at the World Cup.
Friedel believes Turner is an ‘incredible goalkeeper’ and that’s why Arsenal may not want to let him go.
Yet from Turner’s perspective, Friedel believes he may need to chase a departure in order to become first-choice elsewhere.
Freidel believes Turner ‘has got to go’ if he isn’t going to displace Aaron Ramsdale – something that looks very unlikely right now.
“Look at Matt’s competition for the national team spot. He was the number one then and he’s gone all this time without playing, but Zack Steffen, who wasn’t getting a game at Manchester City, is now playing well for Middlesbrough. They are possible promotion candidates and all of a sudden with Zack playing at a high level in the Championship and potentially in the Premier League and he’s playing every week whilst Matt is on the bench, then you’re looking at another change in who is the number one keeper for the US national team,” said Friedel.
“I think that Matt, no matter what, even though Arsenal are an incredible club, has to find consistent football somewhere. This season, fine, but if he’s not going to be the number one he has got to go. The only issue is that he’s on a long contract and if you’re Arsenal, why would you let him go? You’ve got an incredible goalkeeper, an incredible guy, a great worker, you have one of the best number two’s on the planet. I think it’s a tough position. I’d like for the US side of things, for Zack Steffen to be playing, for Ethan Horvath to be playing (which he is) and for Matt Turner to be playing so there is great competition because that makes everyone better,” he added.
MATT TURNER’S MOVE TO ARSENAL WAS LIKELY TO END THIS WAY
Turner deciding to join Arsenal felt like a strange move in the first place.
We understood it from the perspective of Turner enjoying an unlikely rise in Major League Soccer and taking the chance to join Arsenal whilst it was available to him.
Yet it was always likely to result in Turner spending most of his time on the bench behind Ramsdale.
Turner has played in two FA Cup games and four Europa League games but has yet to make a single Premier League appearance.
It doesn’t even feel like Turner is all that close to displacing Ramsdale and there are question marks over his ability with the ball at his feet.
That made Turner a strange signing for Arsenal when Edu struck a deal, given that Ramsdale had supplanted Bernd Leno in part because of his ability on the ball.
Other clubs may well fancy signing Turner, but Arsenal will surely only sanction a move if they have another quality goalkeeper to provide competition for Ramsdale.
