Not good enough for Arsenal? Time for a change? Transfer questions USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner must answer in 2023

Quizzed by GOAL on whether Turner is good enough for a club of Arsenal’s stature and ambition, Parlour – speaking in association with NetBet Online Betting – said, with the Gunners already being linked with another keeper: “I’ve seen the reports with David Raya at Brentford. You always need good goalkeepers. If you are going to have any chance of being successful, you need to have that. Maybe they have thought ‘is he up to the standard?’ I haven’t seen a lot of him, but Raya I’ve seen a lot of and he’s decent. Whether that deal is going to happen, we have to wait and see. You have then got two good goalkeepers. If there is then a problem with Ramsdale going forward, you have got no problems whatsoever bringing Raya into the team. I do believe that you need two top class keepers because if one gets an injury – it’s like losing your striker. Maybe that’s what they are looking at. It might up Ramsdale’s game a little because he knows he has competition around him.”

Pressed on whether Turner may have been signed by Arsenal as much for his links to the lucrative American market as his ability between the sticks, Parlour said: “He’s a decent keeper, there is no doubt about that. But if you want to try and win leagues, sometimes you need that little bit extra. Whether he has got that… Of course it’s great for the American market that he has come to England and playing, but it’s all about ability in the end. He might just be lacking a little bit. I don’t see him day to day but the coaches will be chatting with Mikel Arteta – they see him every day, and will be saying if he’s good enough. If he is called upon then he’ll do the best he can, but whether that is good enough to win your leagues and trophies is another matter. That is maybe why they are looking at other keepers.”

The good will that has been afforded to Turner by the USMNT will not last forever, with Parlour saying when asked if the 29-year-old now needs a move as much for his international ambitions as domestic ones – with Nottingham Forest reported to have expressed interest: “You want to be playing. You probably get into the team at 18, 19 and you have got probably 16 years – 35/36 is probably the average age where people retire. You don’t want to be sitting on the bench every week, and at the moment he will be. I like that in a player. He wants to go out and play. You have got to keep your eye in. You can train as much as you like, but it’s not like game situations. Where is he going to play football? That is one reason why he might say to Arteta ‘look, I want to go out and play now’. If he does that, then players have all the power now and they can do that.”

Turner has been forced to play second fiddle to Ramsdale at Arsenal, with the England international silencing critics that questioned his £24 million ($31m) fee when arriving from Sheffield United in 2021 with back-to-back relegations out of the Premier League under his belt. Parlour said when asked for his take on the enigmatic 25-year-old: “He’s done brilliantly. What I like about him is his character as well. He’s brilliant for the dressing room, which is so important. It’s not all about ability sometimes. He has got plenty of ability, but you have to look at the character as well and what he can bring to the dressing room. I think he has been excellent. He made some great saves last season in important games. He’s going to make a mistake here and there, all keepers do that, but most of the time he has kept Arsenal in it when he has to – concentration levels have been very good. He’s been a great signing. There were a few people who said ‘is he worth that?’ I spoke to Dave Seaman, who goes into training, and he says he’s a great character and an excellent goalkeeper. If Dave Seaman says that, I’m very happy.”

Arsenal are now being linked with Spanish shot-stopper Raya, who has spent the last four years at Brentford, with Parlour saying when asked if his presence at the Emirates would help to raise Ramsdale’s game even further: “It makes you better. When I was playing, if the manager signed another midfielder then you say ‘I’ve got a bit of competition now’. You aren’t always guaranteed to play, but it certainly helps your game. That’s what you want – competition for places. They have got a big squad of players now, Arsenal. They will probably need to get a few out of the club. You have to raise your game like everybody else. Standards are so important. I watched a few of the games in America and Mikel says the standards in every game have to be high, you have to keep working hard and trying to get better. I’m sure if there is competition in any position, then the guys are going to respond to that and that is good for the club. People raising their games makes you a better team.”