Aaron Ramsdale talks exclusively with me on how loan moves shaped his career.
Currently Arsenals No.1 goalkeeper, trying to win a Premier League title and out Jordan Pickford for the starting spot internationally. I asked him how he feet loans had shaped his career.
He said, “I wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t gone out on loan, and I it needed to be somewhere that was struggling.’ At the tender age of 19 he headed to a Chesterfield team languishing at the bottom of League Two.
‘I had to grow up really quick, I remember my first game against Accrington, I chucked two (goals) in, then kept a clean sheet against league leaders the week after, and by my fourth game against Stevenage I came out to clear a ball, missed it and the striker rounded me to score.’
“All these experiences for Chesterfield, the team had zero confidence, it was a young team, and the fans were great. I was making mistakes, but I was playing well and making saves, it was just about me getting out there and playing.”
“Learning the game at lower levels was about kicking a ball, coming out for catches against 6’5” strikers and centre halves. The stadiums, the dressing rooms, the pitches, and fans were horrible, but all you have to do is concentrate on your job.”
Aaron identified that going out on loan was the prettiest of jobs, but to help him learn a grow it was vital for his development, until his second loan move from Bournemouth to AFC Wimbledon came about.
“The reason I went out on loan was because I missed the bus for Chelsea away, in the Carabao Cup, I woke up, hit what I thought was snooze on my alarm, but it was instead cancel. I went into training and trained on my own, two days later I was heading to Wimbledon on loan.”
“At the time I genuinely thought they were taking the mick out of me, sending me to another team bottom of the league, by about 12 points.
Everything in my life had changed, I was living in a club apartment, cooking my own food, washing my own kit, and I then met my now fiancée. Everything off the pitch was coming together, then something clicked on the pitch, I had a manager in Wally Downes that was a character, a goalkeeper coach (Ashley Bayes) is also a character, and they just brought the best out of me on the pitch.”
“We somehow stayed up, I had an unbelievable 25 games, I was probably playing the best football that I have. It was such good fun, the training ground was awful, it was just mud, it reminded me of the reasons I became a goalkeeper as a kid.”
Aaron then returned to Bournemouth the following season and using what he had learnt out on loan established himself as the clubs No.1 in the Championship. His career has really blossomed since the two loan moves, without any doubt he confidently uses the past experience of both clubs and attributes he learnt, to boast about his current achievements.
Could his career have panned out differently?