Aaron Ramsdale moved to tears by Arsenal fans' gesture on Southampton return

Aaron Ramsdale was moved to tears by the reception he got from the fans upon his return to the club with .

Saints visited the Emirates Stadium for a tough match on Saturday afternoon. joined Saints in a £25million transfer from the Gunners at the end of the summer window - and might not have known what sort of a welcome he'd receive in north London.

But when he came out to warm-up ahead of the 3pm kick-off, he got a rapturous reception from the fans who arrived early, prompting an emotional response from their ex-goalkeeper. There were chants of his name in the final few minutes of added time, too, while many fans stayed to give him a standing ovation after

Ramsdale made 89 appearances for Arsenal and only left because he wanted regular first-team football, having lost his place in Mikel Arteta's side to . He could have decided to remain put and warm the bench for the Gunners, but would rather play regularly for a struggling Premier League team.

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"If I was sitting on the bench, it [winning a trophy] wouldn't have meant that much to me," Ramsdale told in the build-up the game. "I just wanted to play football. As a kid I wanted to play football to play, not to just sit on a bench. Getting out and playing was my aim so I'm lucky I found myself here at Southampton."

The Saints keeper had a good first half against his former side, keeping out a low Thomas Partey effort from the edge of the box before scrambling to his feet to ensure the rebound didn't go in.

Arsenal were frustrated in the first half, going into the break with the score at 0-0, despite dominating possession and having plenty of dangerous set pieces. But had other ideas in the second half, setting up Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli to score before adding a goal of his own.

Ramsdale left Arsenal on good terms, with Arteta giving him his blessing to depart. "What he did for me in my time at Arsenal, I can only thank him for, and he thanked me for my contribution [when leaving]," Ramsdale told .

"Not just myself but as a football club, getting back into the , pushing for a trophy. Ultimately, as managers do and top managers do, they have to make decisions which will upset people. He made that decision and we still speak.

"I'm obviously looking forward to getting some games under my belt here and we have Arsenal in a few weeks which will be a nice return."

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