Arsene Wenger, former Arsenal manager, has expressed his reservations about current boss Mikel Arteta’s decision to alternate between goalkeepers Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya.

Wenger believes Ramsdale, who started the season as Arsenal’s first choice, has the qualities needed to secure the No 1 spot again.

Arsene Wenger, who managed Arsenal from 1996 to 2018, has criticised Mikel Arteta for his goalkeeper selection policy. Wenger doesn’t agree with Arteta’s decision to drop Aaron Ramsdale in favour of David Raya as Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Ramsdale, 25, started the season as Arsenal’s No 1, appearing in the first four Premier League matches.

However, he was later replaced by Raya, 28, in both the Premier League and the Champions League. Raya was reportedly brought in for his better distribution skills but has faced scrutiny after some errors, most recently in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

“Personally, I like Ramsdale. If I was in his position I would not give up,” Wenger told beIN Sports.

“I believe he has the chance to come back into the team.”

When asked if Ramsdale is a better goalkeeper than Raya, Wenger responded, “Better… better… I don’t know if he’s better. I just think Ramsdale has made decisive saves in the games last season. They were not happy maybe with his feet, his distribution.”

Wenger emphasised the core job of a goalkeeper. “To stop balls going in the back of the net,” he said, underlining that while distribution is important, the primary role of a goalkeeper is to defend.

“It happened to me the same with the centre backs, you want a guy who has better distribution from the back but then you realise he is less good defensively and his first job is to defend.”

In contrast to Arteta’s approach, Wenger favoured a clearly defined No 1 goalkeeper during his tenure. He said, “That’s my belief, I don’t believe in rotation with goalkeepers, I don’t believe in a lack of clarity of the hierarchy with goalkeepers. That doesn’t work.”

Meanwhile, Raya recorded his fifth clean sheet of the season in Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over Sheffield United.

Wenger’s comments come as part of a broader conversation about the goalkeeper situation at Arsenal which hasn’t stopped since Raya made his debut.