Forgotten Arsenal goalkeeper Runar Alex Runarsson is still under contract with the club until 2024, but what’s he up to now?
28-year-old Runar Alex Runarsson signed for Arsenal in 2020 from then-Ligue 1 club Dijon, joining for a minimal fee of just over £1m.
The goalkeeper went on to make six appearances for Arsenal in his first season, but after some shaky performances, he went out on loan to OH Leuven in Belgium for the 2021/22 campaign.
The Leuven loan was a relative success. It took a while for Runarsson to break into the team, but he ended up making 20 appearances for the side, holding down a spot from November to April.
It was enough to draw the attention of Turkish side Alanyaspor, who signed Runarsson on loan for the current campaign.
This time around, Runarsson was a starter from the off, making 29 appearances in the Super Lig and Turkish Cup so far this season.
With Runarsson starting, Alanyaspor sit firmly in mid-table, 10th of 19 teams.
There have been some highlights, including the assist he provided in December, and the five clean sheets he’s kept so far.
The goalkeeper also performed excellently home and away against Galatasaray, despite failing to keep a clean sheet in either game.
He made a huge 19 saves between the two matches, overperforming against his xGOT faced by 2.3. In other words, your average goalkeeper would have let in two or three more goals than he did.
Runarsson has also kept in touch with his parent club, coming back to watch Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth from the stands in March.
But it hasn’t all been good news. Runarsson has still let in 54 goals in his 29 games, and whilst that’s not all on him, he’s not entirely blameless either.
It remains to be seen whether or not Alanyaspor will make a summer move to sign Runarsson permanently, or whether he’ll move on somewhere else this summer.
Either way, it looks like the upcoming window will lead to the goalkeeper’s final move away from Arsenal, given his expiring contract next year.
As well as playing for Alanyaspor, Runarsson has continued to feature on occasion for Iceland, making five appearances since September and keeping three clean sheets.