Ozzie's keeper No. 1 could be just what Arsenal needs

Not a while ago, Matt Ryan was irreplaceable between the posts at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton. Slowly he went down the ladder and was the fort choice behind Rob Sanchez for manager Graham Porter. Arsenal decided to take advantage and bring the 28-year-old Australian on loan until the end of the season to create more options on their goal. The Gunners allowed Matt Macey to join Hibernian earlier in the window and manager Mikel Arteta has been in the market for competition for Bernd Leno following a difficult start to life in north London for existing No 2 Alex Runarsson.

Porter had nothing but praise for Ryan and the goalkeeper promised to 'give everything he's got at the club he supported as a kid'

‘Mat has been a great servant to the club in the Premier League, and he has played no small part for the club at this level,’ We have incredible talent and competition at this club for just one position, and understandably, as Australia’s number one, Mat wants the chance of more regular opportunities. ‘Mat is a pleasure to work with, a consummate professional and someone who works incredibly hard at his game. We wish him well at Arsenal and will be watching his progress there.’ were Porter's words.

After letting Emiliano Martinez go in the summer to Aston Villa, Gunners boss Arteta had suggested earlier this month that competition in goal was a priority

'We are assessing what is going to happen with the three positions,' he told reporters. 'The discussion we had in the summer within the club are a little bit different to what actually happened because of the transfer window and the situation that developed with Emi [Martinez]. 'We didn't have much time to do what we really wanted to do and we decided to assess the situation in this window which is what we are trying to do and we will make a decision on how we want to move forward in those three positions.'

Manchester City's Brasilian goalkeeper Ederson is the only one that has kept more clean sheets than Martinez in the league, while the Argentine is eighth in the standings for saves, having made 59 so far this term.

For a then club-record fee, Ryan joined Albion in 2017 from Valencia. He has made 121 Premier League appearances for the club. He had 11 appearances in the league this season already, but hasn't seen any game time since the Seagulls were beaten 3-0 by Leicester City away in mid-December.