New England Revolution have announced Matt Turner’s transfer to Arsenal, pending a medical and the player has been speaking about the move.
On Friday afternoon, New England Revolution officially announced that their goalkeeper Matt Turner is set to join Arsenal in the summer.
The club confirmed that they’ve agreed terms for the transfer pending a medical, adding that Turner is expected to join Arsenal in June 2022.
For the time being, he’ll continue to play for his current club.
Once New England Revolution announced the deal, Matt Turner gave his thoughts about moving to Arsenal, where he will go from being first choice to number two, a risky move in a World Cup year.
“I always want to be able to challenge myself at the highest level I possibly can,” Turner said.
“It’s been tough for goalkeepers to get moves. So I understand, I’m 27 and it’s something that I really want to do and really want to accomplish.
“At the same time, going into a World Cup year, you have to play smart.
“Going overseas and getting into a situation where maybe I’m not playing, or maybe I don’t adapt well to being in a foreign country before a World Cup might be challenging.
“There’s a lot of things I can take from [the U.S.] and apply with the Revolution for the rest of 2022, and then going into a World Cup, after a World Cup, we can revisit.
“But next 12 months, next four months, next whatever, if it make sense I would love to.”
On the other side of the deal, Arsenal haven’t announced anything. Football.London report that the Gunners don’t intend to confirm the transfer until Turner undergoes that pending medical in June.
But there’s no bad blood between the clubs, with Arsenal giving their blessing to New England Revolution for their announcement. They understand that the MLS side want to draw a line under the speculation and get on with their season.
Turner is expected to play as a backup to Aaron Ramsdale, and Football.London add that Turner chose to move to Arsenal despite that risk to his World Cup chances because it’s his lifelong ambition to play in the Premier League.
Responding to a post confirming the news on his Instagram story, Turner wrote: “I’m grateful for every twist and turn in my life because they all led me here. This moment. Right now.”
Turner then posted a picture of his younger self wearing an Arsenal shirt, with the caption: “Dream big little man, you never know how far it’ll take you.”
USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter previously spoke about the transfer, saying: “It’s an amazing story. Undrafted, then USMNT starter… and now Turner’s set to join Arsenal. It’s incredible.”
Fabrizio Romano claims the transfer fee is €7m (£5.8m) plus €3m (£2.5m) in bonuses. The Daily Mail report that it’s £5.8m with £2m in bonuses, and The Athletic write that it’s actually slightly under $7m (£5.2m) with undisclosed add-ons.
The actual price is probably somewhere between £5-6m with £2-2.5m in add-ons.
The suggestion from all sources is that New England will have a sell-on clause in Turner’s deal, and that his arrival will facilitate Bernd Leno’s departure.
Turner currently appears to be the US Men’s National Team first-choice goalkeeper, keeping 11 clean sheets in 16 games since his debut last February.
The goalkeeper also won the Concacaf Gold Cup Golden Glove Award last summer, as the USA won the competition with five clean sheets in six games.
On top of that, Turner was named the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2021 for his club exploits.