West Bromwich Albion journalist Luke Hatfield has urged Arsenal to swoop for Sam Johnstone instead of Aaron Ramsdale this summer.
The Gunners have been linked with a bid for Sheffield United goalkeeper Ramsdale after the club were relegated from the Premier League.
Sky Sports reports that they have already seen two bids rejected for the Blades stopper and have been considering a third that could see the value of a move increase to £25m in total.
However, Hatfield believes that a deal to sign Johnstone from West Bromwich Albion would make more financial sense for the Gunners.
The England international has been linked with West Ham United but the Hammers have signed Alphonse Areola on loan from PSG instead, seemingly ending any hope of a deal.
As a result, Hatfield thinks that the Baggies would be willing to let Johnstone go for a fee of around £12m as they look to raise funds after their own relegation.
He said: “The Arsenal stuff is interesting because Ramsdale is a good goalkeeper, don’t get me wrong, but if I were to pick a goalkeeper out of the two, I’d probably go for Johnstone at the moment.
“I know Ramsdale is younger but the fee Arsenal are looking to pay, you see reports of £30 million, I have no idea why they’re not even considering Sam Johnstone for less than half of that.
“You’d imagine Albion will probably sell for between £10m or £15m. If you go in with £12 million, I think West Brom will probably consider that and say ‘this is probably a deal that’s worth going for’.”