Aaron Ramsdale: Arsenal's former Sheffield United goalkeeper surprised at speed of his rise at new club

The 23-year-old leapfrogged Bernd Leno in the pecking order after joining the Gunners in August for a fee that could reach £30 million and has kept three clean sheets in four consecutive Premier League starts.

That form earned him a recall into the Three Lions squad following his involvement at Euro 2020 this summer – and he could win his first cap in the upcoming World Cup qualification double-header against Andorra and Hungary.

“(It has been) possibly the best month I could have wished for,” Ramsdale said of his start to life in north London.

“It is not something I expected so soon. I believed in my ability to get into the team but I thought it would take a while transitioning to the way they play, new team-mates, getting into the team helping them out.”

The Blades academy graduate was relegated twice in consecutive seasons with Bournemouth and Sheffield United respectively, but was voted the Cherries’ Supporters' Player of the Year in the 2019/20 campaign and, despite struggling early on, won Sheffield United’s Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards last term.

Now playing in Europe, rather than battling the drop, is on his mind.

He said: “It’s a young team so it’s step by step; it might have to be the Europa League and then the Champions League, but we want to get back there.

“You can sense it as soon as you walk through the doors that the club isn’t happy where they are.”