Former Arsenal and Manchester City defender Gael Clichy believes that Aaron Ramsdale’s provocative behaviour might have cost him his place.
The summer saw Mikel Arteta add David Raya to his squad, with the on-loan Brentford man set to join on a permanent deal at the end of the season.
Clichy thinks that the arrival of the Spaniard is designed to keep the England international on his toes.
He told Genting Casino: “Ramsdale plays with his head up and can wind up the opposition fans. Those qualities are great, it shows character, but if you go over the line then it can become an issue.
“I see this as a way of Arteta keeping Ramsdale humble and reminding him that Arsenal have not achieved anything yet, and now he'll ask Ramsdale to prove to him what he's made of.”
Clichy compared Arsenal manager Arteta to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in his willingness to drop previously established players.
“Mikel Arteta has shown again why he's a copy of Pep Guardiola,” he explained. “One of the main qualities of Pep [Guardiola], he's ruthless, he doesn't care who you are. Arteta bringing in David Raya is the same situation, he doesn't want Aaron Ramsdale to relax. Ramsdale was the only goalkeeper competing for the number one spot, now he has tough competition.
“With Joe Hart, the first quality Pep Guardiola wanted was his goalkeeper to be great with his feet, which he felt Joe [Hart] wasn't and Claudio Bravo was. But, personally, I think Hart was a much better player than Bravo was. In that situation, Hart was one of the faces of the club and perhaps Guardiola realised he had to deal with him quickly for it to be less of a problem than it could have been.
“Hart had so much presence within the team, to the fans and the youth team, but Guardiola had to do what he thought was right for the club. Aaron Ramsdale doesn't have the same status as Hart did, but I can see the resemblance in the situation.”