AARON RAMSDALE hopes his penalty heroics help earn a permanent Newcastle deal – but he will NOT be knocking on Eddie Howe’s door to face Manchester City.
The goalkeeper, 27, saved THREE penalties against Bournemouth to clinch a 7-6 shootout victory following a pulsating 3-3 FA Cup draw.
Ramsdale, back in after being benched for Nick Pope in the last three Prem games, is only on a season-long loan from Championship side Southampton.
But, despite the fierce competition for a start, he did not hide his determination to stay at Newcastle.
He said: “I fell in love before I even signed. Playing up here, the atmosphere, my personality with the fans allows me to be myself and to have the energy and attitude that I have. I didn’t need to play or experience it – I already felt it.
“I knew the situation coming in. I had a fight on my hands with Nick. There were no promises that I would even get in the team.
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“Now there’s some little sort of indent in the club’s history. It’s not a massive one, but I’ve helped the team in this instance to get through and look forward to more days like this, hopefully, for me at this football club.”
Ramsdale’s match action was restricted to just the Carabao Cup before Pope’s groin injury led to a run of eight starts. He has played in every round so far but claims there will be no problems if that ends in Tuesday’s semi-final first leg at home to City.
He added: “There’ll be no words coming from me. If he decides to go with me or Nick, I’ll support the team. I played in the other rounds—that doesn’t mean I’m going to play now. I’ll just be ready for whenever I am called upon.”
“It’s a weird one. People say that you can’t be happy for another goalie but you actually can. The Goalkeeper Union at this place is strong.”
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Howe could be forced into the transfer market this month after Tino Livramento limped off with a hamstring injury that means he will “be out for a period of time” along with fellow defenders Fabian Schar and Dan Burn.
Toulouse’s French ace Dayann Methalie is a top target – though a knee injury means he too is out for the rest of this month.
On potential incomings, Howe said: “We have taken the right stance so far, but will assess it on a day-by-day basis. Let’s see, we discuss things on a daily basis, and we will try to make the right decision.”
Meanwhile, Andoni Iraola claims it is “impossible” for Bournemouth to replace Antoine Semenyo, who departed for City last week, and Justin Kluivert, who requires knee surgery.
Things got worse when Turkish forward Enes Unal, recently back from a year out with an ACL injury, limped off with a muscle injury after just half an hour at St. James’ Park.
The Spaniard said: “If we are going to sign players, and we will go to the market, but in January to replace this level of player is almost impossible for us.
“We will have to sign players that will help us, but especially we have to focus on the players that are already in the building and who probably haven’t played as many minutes. Now they have to step up and give us more things.”
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