If you have ever tuned into a pre-match press conference, you will have heard your manager refer to a “domino effect” in the transfer window.
The first domino to fall is from the elite clubs. They do their best to get deals done before the start of the season, or at least set the wheels in motion near the beginning of the window before completing a transfer closer to the deadline.
Next in the sequence are mid-table Premier League clubs. These teams get to choose from the players the best clubs in the world have not identified or those deemed surplus to requirements at the elite level that could bring quality to their team. The sequence goes down to the bottom of the pyramid, where there is often a wait for clubs higher up the food chain to finalise their business so they can begin working to secure a player deemed not quite suitable for their current club.
As we enter the final days of the transfer window, the domino theory is gathering pace in the goalkeeper market.
Arsenal are at the top of the market, and they are facilitating Aaron Ramsdale’s desire to secure consistent first-team football away from the Emirates Stadium this season.
Ramsdale was Arteta’s starting goalkeeper in the 2022-23 season when Arsenal went close to winning the Premier League and made some vital match-winning saves. However, Arteta moved to sign David Raya from Brentford last summer as the Spaniard was a better stylistic fit for how Arteta wanted Arsenal to play. Raya has now usurped the 26-year-old as Arsenal’s clear No. 1.
Raya is now Arsenal’s No 1 — and proved it against Aston Villa (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Ramsdale is on a No 1’s salary and none of the top sides in England need a first-choice goalkeeper. But he is an England international and has the quality to be a starting top-flight goalkeeper. Wolves were engaged in discussions for Ramsdale earlier this week, but talks reached an impasse, with the goalkeeper’s salary and potential transfer fee proving too costly at this stage for the West Midlands club.
Wolves did not enter the summer window with the idea of moving on from current No 1 goalkeeper Jose Sa as a priority, but they have been open to the idea. But the 31-year-old has a considerable wage, so a deal to sign Ramsdale would only be possible if they were able to sell the Portuguese goalkeeper. There have been suggestions of interest from Saudi Arabia, but nothing has yet materialised.
Had Arsenal been open to a straight loan deal to allow Ramsdale to build up game time away from north London, perhaps a deal could have been done to facilitate the boyhood West Bromwich Albion fan’s move to the Molineux Stadium. Arsenal want £30million ($39.6m) for Ramsdale but are prepared to be flexible in the final days of the window to try to strike a deal.
This includes their willingness to authorise a loan deal if it comes with an obligation. They would be looking for a loan fee of more than £5million and a commitment to buy of around £25m next summer. This would allow them to move for Espanyol’s Joan Garcia, their chosen No. 2 option in the market, whose release clause is €30m, though Arsenal are hopeful of securing him for less.
Take a breath… there’s more on Wolves and Arsenal shortly.
In the meantime, as The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported on Tuesday, Wolves have switched their attention to Sam Johnstone. Johnstone, who joined Crystal Palace in 2022 from Wolves’ arch-rivals West Brom, started most of the south London club’s games when fit last season but suffered an elbow injury in March, keeping him out for the remainder of the season. This allowed Dean Henderson to establish himself as Oliver Glasner’s No 1.
After the Austrian coach made it clear that Henderson was his starting goalkeeper, Johnstone expressed a desire to leave Selhurst Park.
Johnstone has lost his place to Dean Henderson at Selhurst Park (George Wood/Getty Images)
Leicester City, Nottingham Forest and Southampton had shown interest in the England international, but he seems set to join Wolves, who are long-term admirers. A deal is not yet in place, but the clubs are working towards compromising on a fee of around £10million for the 31-year-old, while a contract that runs until 2028 has been proposed.
Should Johnstone depart, Palace are considering a move for Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers as a replacement. Travers has recently been bumped down to Andoni Iraola’s third choice due to the impending season-long loan arrival of Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea.
Having not secured a deal for Johnstone, Southampton are still in the market for a starting goalkeeper, which could lead them to Ramsdale. Southampton have started Alex McCarthy in goal during their opening two Premier League matches, the 1-0 defeats by Newcastle United and then Nottingham Forest, but have been in the market to find competition for the 34-year-old throughout the summer.
Until Tuesday, that search appeared to land at Netherlands international Justin Bijlow, who made 24 appearances for Feyenoord last season amid two spells out with injury. However, in a statement on social media, Bijlow said the move to Southampton broke down due to an issue with the medical, as the Premier League side “have a different view to Feyenoord on how to treat an old injury”.
The 26-year-old added that he is “fully fit and not hampered by this” but that he respects the view of Southampton’s medical team. With Bijlow now back in Rotterdam, Ramsdale is a viable option for the south coast club preparing for a season where they are expected to fight for Premier League survival. Having an experienced goalkeeper with international quality would go a long way in helping them achieve that aim, but committing to the transfer and salary cost must take some consideration given the reality that the Championship is a possibility next season.
There may yet still be an opportunity for Wolves and Arsenal to do business for a goalkeeper, however, with the latter club keen to reunite with academy graduate Dan Bentley. Bentley, 31, is well respected in the Wolves dressing room and is known to be one of the leaders in the squad but has just five Premier League appearances to his name and is not considered a starting option at Molineux.
Arsenal are interested in Bentley (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Arsenal have identified Bentley as a standout option for a senior third-choice goalkeeper, a la Scott Carson with Manchester City or Tom Heaton with Manchester United. Like Heaton, a United academy graduate, Bentley is particularly attractive to Arsenal’s recruitment team because he takes up a valuable homegrown slot in the Premier League and UEFA competition. While England’s top flight makes no particular requirement on homegrown status outside of a player’s need to have developed in England, UEFA requires that four of a minimum of eight homegrown players have come through the club’s academy.
Given that Arsenal are on the cusp of selling senior Hale End graduate Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace and have already let Emile Smith Rowe join Fulham, the desire to bolster their squad with players who have developed with Arsenal at the youth level is heightened. Arsenal had two bids rejected earlier in the window and remain some way off Wolves’ valuation of around £1million. Arsenal are also exploring a move for Wigan Athletic’s Sam Tickle, who is an England Under-21 international.
There are movers and shakers across the division.
The future of USMNT starting goalkeeper Matt Turner, who has fallen down the pecking order to Nuno Espirito Santo’s third-choice ’keeper at Forest, is another story to keep an eye on as we enter the final days of the window. As are the prospects for Newcastle United duo Martin Dubravka, who is seeking a No 1 spot after deputising for the now-returned Nick Pope for the second half of last season, and Odysseas Vlachodimos, who was signed from Forest ahead of the June 30 profit and sustainability regulations deadline.
With the Johnstone domino about to fall, it seems inevitable we will see a flurry of activity before Friday’s August 30 deadline, as clubs search for solutions between their sticks.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
