Arsenal’s big summer clearout is starting to gather pace with The Telegraph reporting that goalkeeper Alex Runarsson will sign a season-long loan deal with Cardiff City.
Signed on the recommendation of keeper coach Inaki Cana, Runarsson made six appearances in his first season as he provided backup to Bernd Leno.
It was quickly decided he wasn’t really up to the job – Matt Ryan had already been drafted in on a temporary basis – and the following year he moved on loan to Belgian side OH Leuven. That was then followed by a season in Turkey with Alyanspor.
This latest move will take Runarsson, who arrived for a fee believed to be in the region of £1.5m, to the end of his Arsenal contract.
#Arsenal have agreed a deal for Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson to move to Cardiff on a season-long loan. More @TeleFootball #CardiffCity
— Mike McGrath (@mcgrathmike) August 17, 2023
Arsenal have offloaded five first team squad members permanently this summer – Pablo Mari, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Granit Xhaka, Auston Trusty and Matt Turner – and Marquinhos has left on loan for the year.
More are expected to follow. Folarin Balogun has suitors across Europe, Nuno Tavares is being heavily linked with a move to Nottingham Forest, Besiktas are sniffing around both Rob Holding and Nicolas Pepe, Real Sociedad and Newcastle hold an interest in Kieran Tierney and Arthur Okonkwo, Cedric Soares and Sambi Lokonga are also up for grabs.
I’m sure he paid for himself from shirt sales in Iceland.
i wonder how he did at Alyanspor
checked transfermarkt: 32 appearences, 4 yellow cards, 6 clean sheets, finished 15th of 19th but i have no context so no idea whether he did well or not
There are more people in Bristol than in Iceland…
He’ll fit right in – he can already speak Elvish.
Hope he finds his feet/hands? there. We really do love a weird signing from the North Pole.
How has Arteta signed 5 goalkeepers in 4 years? Wild for that position
Blame it on Raya. When we couldn’t get him the first time, we signed Runarsson (then Matt Ryan). The following season we tried and failed so Ramsdale and Turner come in. Now that he’s affordable Turner has to make way.
If loaning out players earned you interest the way money loans do we’d be a very rich club by now. Maybe they should do that, say for loaning out Runnarsson for a year you get 5% APR, so maybe three fingers of a Michael Olise for instance. Then you add Marquinhos and Sambi and you might already have an arm and half a torso!
Knew it