Socceroos skipper Maty Ryan has revealed that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told him he wanted to sign him permanently at the Premier League giants.
In an interview with Flashscore, the Levante goalkeeper spoke in depth about his time with the Gunners and explained how the availability of an England international ultimately prevented him joining the club he supported as a boy on a permanent basis.
“(Arteta) actually told me as well that he would try and sign me permanently at the end of the season,” Ryan told Flashscore.
“But that summer, Aaron Ramsdale became available, and we all know how prized the kind of English goalkeeping position can be, because it allows teams to have another foreigner spot and stuff.
“And obviously they went down that route.”
Intriguingly, Ryan also explained how dressing room politics prevented him playing more during his loan stint in north London.
“I remember when I signed there – I was an Arsenal supporter growing up as a kid, and I kind of lost that support for them when we started playing against them when I was in Brighton, because I was like, ‘I can’t be supporting another team other than the team I’m playing for’,” the Socceroos captain said.
“But then I remember signing and sitting there doing my first interview, and I remember looking down and I had a red Arsenal jacket on, and it was a real pinch-myself moment.
“I remember the first phone call I had with (Arteta), I knew I was kind of going in behind Bernd Leno there to begin with and whatnot, but at the same time, I wanted to – you know, I’m ambitious, I want to be playing, I believe I can play at the highest level, and I wanted to kind of ask that question.
“He goes, ‘Look, I can’t guarantee that you’re gonna play, (but) I think through my managerial career until now, those that deserve to play through showing it on the training pitch, I give them opportunities’.”
Ryan continued: “So I went in there, and those messages were clear through his actions in the way he set up the team and the changes he made frequently to the team, playing against different managers.
“And, okay, the first opportunity I got, Bernd Leno got a red card and I played my first match against Aston Villa away – I felt I did well, even though we lost 1-0 – but then my two opportunities I got after that, Bernd was fit for both games and he could have played, but I was just trying to knuckle down and do well, and earn the right to play, and he gave me two more opportunities.
“I actually could have had a couple more, but I got sick one game prior to that, and they didn’t play me after this.
“And also, in the situation at the end with Bernd, there was a little bit of tension between the coaching staff and and him, and they actually said to me on a few occasions, ‘If it was just down to the football, we’d be selecting you, but Bernd still has another contract, you’re on loan for the minute and we don’t wanna cause a problem in the change room or nothing, because we’re competing for European football at the end of the season,’ and so that’s how it played out.”
Ryan played three times for Arsenal during his loan stint there from Brighton in 2021.
He is still backing Arteta and the Gunners to get the job done in the Premier League this term, despite Manchester City closing the gap at the top of the table.
“I’m confident. You gotta believe. If you don’t believe, then you kind of fail at the first hurdle. And they’re closer than they’ve ever been, they’ve just got this last little push for the end of the season,” he said.
“Mikel’s done a great job, both having been there personally to witness it myself and from afar. Success speaks louder than any other words, you know? Getting the job done.
“And they’ve obviously won a few trophies in the other competitions and all that, and when they hopefully get that Premier League trophy come the end of the season, it’s not by coincidence that they’ve been there or thereabouts.”
Since the end of his loan spell at Arsenal, Ryan has spent time on the books of Real Sociedad, AZ Alkmaar, Roma, Lens and now Levante.
Currently, he is deep in a relegation battle in LaLiga with his side sitting second-last on the ladder, two points away from safety with five matches to play.
“Yeah, we’re down at the bottom. We’re not at the bottom, there’s another team below us. We just need to find two more teams to put below us,” he said.
“But, I mean, perspective is obviously a very personal thing. Of course, we’re not happy with the position we’re in, and we would love to be spending the whole season outside the relegation spots, but in reality now, we’re one win away from – depending on the results – getting out of there.
“As long as we don’t get relegated, it’s been a fantastic season. That’s the circumstances in which the club is in at the minute, from having gotten promoted last season. With the challenges a club like Levante also faces with a lack of investments and these types of stuff… coming up from the second division to the first division to try and survive, it’s probably the toughest job that there is for a football club.
“So yeah, we’ve put ourselves in a position now where we have the chance to get safe and achieve our objective, and we’re working hard to make that happen.”