The USMNT’s nos. 1 and 2 goalkeepers will be Premier League understudies beginning this summer, with the 2022 World Cup quickly approaching on the horizon.
Zack Steffen is already backing up Ederson at Manchester CIty, and now New England Revolution star Matt Turner is officially leaving Boston for London.
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Foxborough, Massachusetts ➡️ London, England.
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) February 11, 2022
The #NERevs have agreed to a Summer transfer of @headdturnerr to join @Arsenal in June of 2022.
Turner has 13 caps and has 23 clean sheets in 106 senior appearances for the Revs. He was MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2021, also winning Golden Glove and Best XI status for the USMNT at the Gold Cup.
Aaron Ramsdale is currently Arsenal’s No. 1 after taking the job from Bernd Leno, who is expected to skip town. Ramsdale has the third-best save percentage in the Premier League -- Ederson is fifth, if you’re a USMNT fan wondering aloud -- and is not even 24 years old.
Should USMNT fans be worried?
Turner would benefit from a new level of training and cup competitions, and perhaps there’s a view to a loan in the Championship. And being second choice at Arsenal seemingly didn’t kill the careers of Emiliano Martinez or Lukasz Fabianski.
While it’s obviously ideal for a national team goalkeeper to be his club’s unquestioned No.1, it didn’t stop Robin Olsen from helping Sweden get out of a EURO 2020 group with Spain, Poland, and Slovakia, and it seemingly didn’t hurt Darren Randolph when he led the Republic of Ireland to EURO 2016 despite being seldom-used at West Ham.
There are other, less clear-cut examples but suffice it to say nations with incredible goalkeeping depth like Belgium and Italy are not the norm. There isn’t the luxury of “best club situation” here and league quality does matter. If not, no one would be backing Turner to consider Arsenal. No Jamaican fans would question why Andre Blake’s not moved abroad.
Goalkeeping may just be a different animal.
Adding, per sources: Arsenal's bid for New England Revolution and USMNT GK is in the range of what Manchester City paid for Zack Steffen (~7m up front, add-ons to ~10m).
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 20, 2022
Would be awesome deal for Turner + NE. Turner made Revs roster as undrafted free agent. Deserves this chance. https://t.co/cAqFC5eUxV