by Aaron Ramsdale didn’t know it at the time, but it turns out the first seeds of his summer move to Southampton were planted in May.
The goalkeeper was at Wembley to cheer on his good friend David Brooks, who was playing for Southampton in the Championship play-off final.
It’s a tradition among Ramsdale and his friends that whenever someone goes to Wembley, they all go to support them in fancy dress.
In the past they have been Teletubbies and wrestlers, but this year the theme was Harry Porter, with Ramsdale dressed as Hagrid. Each time the player in action has won the match, so there is no chance of the tradition ending anytime soon.
After Southampton beat Leeds to gain promotion to the Premier League, Brooks invited Ramsdale to the club’s after-party.
It was there that he first met Saints boss Russell Martin and Brooks playfully suggested Southampton should sign Ramsdale.
Three months later, Ramsdale was a Southampton player after joining them in a deal that could eventually be worth £25million.
“To be honest, if you had asked me at the end of May if I had been sitting here having a conversation as a Southampton player, I would have said you were probably crazy,” Ramsdale said after completed his move away from Arsenal on deadline day last month.
Ramsdale returns to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday for the first time since leaving Arsenal.
The club had insisted throughout the summer that if they let him leave it would be a permanent transfer and not a loan move.
Chelsea and Newcastle were considered possible destinations from the start of the window, but ended up pursuing other targets.
Ajax and Wolves were keen to take Ramsdale on loan, but Arsenal kept their cool and eventually Southampton came to the table.
It was a brave call from Ramsdale to join a club fighting for relegation, but it was born from a desire to play.
Last season at Arsenal was difficult for the 26-year-old, who lost his place in the team to David Raya.
Ramsdale never really spent any time on the bench during his career, often opting to go out on loan when he was young so he could play.
This has made the last 12 months particularly difficult for him as he has only played 11 games for Arsenal and, despite his best efforts, Mikel Arteta was determined for Raya to be his new number 1.
Despite this, there is no bad blood between Arteta and Ramsdale, with the two men even speaking since the goalkeeper left the club.
For Arteta’s side, he is grateful for Ramsdale’s role in transforming Arsenal into title challengers early in his tenure.
People at Arsenal also feel that Ramsdale has not become a disruptive figure after losing his place to Raya.
Ramsdale sees Southampton as a chance to reset and rediscover his love of football.
Despite only having one training session after arriving on deadline day, Ramsdale made his debut 24 hours later at Brentford and was thrown into the deep end.
Martin’s style of football suits Ramsdale well, with the Saints boss seeing his goalkeepers as a key part of the build-up. He often watches clips with them after training and talks about their work with the ball.
Ramsdale has become a target for Southampton due to his ability in possession, but also his character.
He is brave with the ball, as he showed during his time at Arsenal, and that is something Martin loves.
Ramsdale also has the fight needed for a relegation battle and there is a personal hunger in him too.
He maintains his aspiration to play for England and Lee Carsley spoke to him after missing the squad for the September games.
The message was simple: “Get back to the game and make the team.”
Ramsdale was left out by Carsley again on Thursday, but he will back himself to do so.
