Exclusive: David Seaman backs Aaron Ramsdale to become England's number one

The 24-year-old's arrival at the Emirates in 2021 was met with plenty of criticism by fans, who questioned the signing of a goalkeeper who had suffered relegations with Bournemouth and Sheffield United.

However, Ramsdale has proven to be an astute acquisition for the Premier League leaders so far, having immediately displaced Bernd Leno as Mikel Arteta's first-choice shot-stopper.

Fitting into the Spaniard's style of play with his eye-catching distribution and footwork, Ramsdale has 27 clean sheets to show from 67 Arsenal games, including 12 shut-outs in the current Premier League season.

The England international sits joint-top of the Premier League's clean sheet charts for the season alongside Newcastle United's Nick Pope, and with Ramsdale in between the sticks, Arsenal have become the first team in English Football League history to win five successive London derbies away from home with five clean sheets.

Ramsdale has played an integral role in the Gunners' surge to the top of the Premier League table and consistently earns call-ups to the England squad, but displacing Jordan Pickford for the national team has been a thankless task.

Since his first senior call-up in June 2021, Ramsdale has only earned three caps for the Three Lions, making his debut in a 10-0 World Cup qualifying win over San Marino before also featuring in UEFA Nations League clashes with Hungary and Italy last summer.

The 24-year-old was an unused substitute throughout the World Cup as Pickford continued to prove his worth to England, but Seaman believes that the door will be open for Ramsdale if the Everton number one makes a few errors.

Speaking to Sports Mole at the London Football Awards, Seaman also empathised with Ramsdale on receiving criticism when he joined Arsenal, saying: "He's got a great chance [to become England's number one].

"Getting a lot of criticism when he came to Arsenal is actually what happened to me, everybody didn't want me here.

"That's exactly what I went through, but Aaron has shown exactly what kind of character he's got and showing his ability. It's a waiting game, he's only 24, he's got to wait for Jordan to make a few mistakes."

Ramsdale has been offered protection by a settled backline of Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Oleksandr Zinchenko throughout the campaign, allowing Arsenal to concede a mere 25 top-flight goals so far this season - the joint second-best defensive record in the league alongside Manchester City and behind Newcastle United (19).

During his era at Arsenal, Seaman played behind a famed back four of Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn, but he believes it is impossible to compare the two rearguards.

"It's so difficult to compare, they're a settled back four and the strongest back four picks itself, and that's what used to happen in our day," the 59-year-old added.

"It wasn't by fluke that these guys were so good, it was sheer hard work, and I'm sure that's what Mikel's doing at the training ground, he's making them work hard and at the moment it's working."

Seaman won a total of 12 major honours with Arsenal - including three top-flight crowns - as well as earning 75 caps for England between 1988 and 2002.