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[Photos] 28-year-old star poses in Arsenal shirt after Gunners confirm new signing
Arsenal have announced the signing of Mat Ryan with the experienced goalkeeper arriving on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion for the rest of the season.
Mikel Arteta confirmed earlier this month that he was in the market for a new goalkeeper to support Bernd Leno during the second half of the season after Arsenal failed to land an established No.2 last summer.
Alex Runarsson arrived from Dijon back in September but the inexperienced Icelandic international was initially eyed as a No.3 and proved he isn’t ready to be Leno’s understudy following a nightmare performance against Man City in the League Cup.
Arsenal have now acted to strengthen our goalkeeping roster after snapping-up Ryan from Brighton with the club confirming on Arsenal.com that the 28-year-old has arrived on loan for the rest of the season.
Ryan has made 124 appearances for Brighton since joining the club in 2017 and he was their No.1 until being dropped last month following a disappointing opening few months of the new campaign.
After announcing the deal, Arteta told Arsenal.com:
“We know Mat very well through his performances with Brighton in recent seasons and he brings additional quality to our squad. Mat has very good Premier League experience and has played over 100 times in the league, which is something that will benefit us greatly on and off the pitch. We welcome Mat to Arsenal and look forward to working with him this season.”
Ryan has also expressed his delight at joining the club and the Australian has revealed himself to be a boyhood Arsenal fan so that’s always a huge bonus when a new player arrives.
He’ll wear the No.33 shirt and Ryan’s arrival is expected to see Runarsson heading out on loan during the second half of the season as he obviously needs to gain more first team experience somewhere.
Ryan looks to be a solid piece of business by Arsenal as he’s an experienced Premier League player who is an upgrade on Runarsson and should provide better support to Leno during the second half of the campaign. We can then sort the No.2 position permanently in the summer.
He’s been registered in time to be in contention to face Southampton in the FA Cup this weekend so we could see our new signing make his debut at St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.
Here are more photos of Ryan in his new kit courtesy of Arsenal.com:
Paulo Jim Mathew
June 2, 2021 at 2:54 am
Great