Reports from London are suggesting that Aaron Ramsdale does not want to sit on the bench for the Gunners in the coming season, as he did for most of the last Premier League campaign, Saints are being heavily linked with a move for the keeper.
footballlondon are one of the media outlets carrying the story, they say that the 26-year-old is open to leaving the Emirates in search of regular game time after losing his place to David Raya.
Ramsdale played just 6 times in the League last season after being first choice for the previous two after joining the club from Sheffield United.
Speaking on his future last month, Ramsdale told talkSPORT:
"No footballer wants to not play. I've had a tough year personally not playing and I never want to do that again."
So it seems that the only questions remaining are where he will go during the transfer window and whether it will be a permanent transfer or a loan move.
Arsenal paid somewhere between £25-30 million in August 2021 for Ramsdale and would be looking to recoup as much as that as possible, however his value has dropped to a little over £20 million.
But that price might put off Southampton and indeed other clubs who would be interested in signing him, not to mention his wages, which I would imagine are fairly substantial.
Saints are being linked though and I would see a loan move as being in the best interests of all parties, for Saints it would enable them to get a Premier League proven keeper and not break the bank, for Arsenal although they would prefer to keep Ramsdale as number two to David Raya, they would prefer to get the deal done early so they can bring in his replacement and as mentioned, to his credit Ramsdale does not want to sit and take his wages, he wants to play.
So this is a deal that could happen very quickly, although I would think that Saints would have some competition for his services, but with the top clubs all sorted for Keepers and many of the established clubs also with good number ones, it is competition that Saints will be able to compete with.