Forrest keeper Matt Turner admits he 'didn't do enough' to become Arsenal No 1

  /  autty

US national team No. 1 and Nottingham Forrest goalkeeper Matt Turner reflected on how things went during his short-lived time at Arsenal and mentioned how helpful the move was - despite rarely playing during the season.

'It was always a good stepping stone for my career to play for Arsenal, to be at Arsenal,' Turner said, according to ESPN.

'It helped me to become number one for the national team and play in the World Cup and that was always the goal and now I've found myself playing in the Premier League at another club.

'You always kind of got to get over here, get your foot in the door and find what's right and today I felt really good.'

Turner ended up playing only seven games as Arsenal's cup keeper in both Europa League and FA Cup games. Meanwhile Arsenal relied on Aaron Ramsdale as the starting keeper as they challenged Manchester City for the Premier League title.

The 29-year-old goalie mentioned that he wished he played more during the title challenge but was very understanding as to why he wasn't given that chance.

'Sure, but obviously I didn't do enough to earn that so I'm self-aware enough. I thought I did well in the opportunities that I had to play,' said Turner.

'But again, the team is at the top of the table for most of the season and when that's the case you don't really change the goalkeeper very much.'

Turner went on to reveal that he had asked to leave Arsenal in search of more game time and originally it seemed that such a move may not have been on the cards.

'I think for me it was something that was definitely on my mind,' he said. 'I wanted to go and play and find places to play, but at the end of last season when I brought that up it very much seemed like it wasn't on the cards from conversations with the front office, staff members.

'If there was ever a league in Europe that I wanted to play in it was this one, so it's been a goal of mine to prove myself in the Premier League and hopefully I can do that for 37 more games.'

Arsenal are now in progress of securing the acquisition of Brentford's David Raya to compete with Ramsdale which opened the door for Turner to make his $12.6 million transfer to Nottingham Forrest.

Turner however is still taking in the lessons he learned during his time with the Gunners to help him as his career progresses.

'You need to understand the culture of being at Arsenal. You need to be able to push, but also support and I think that's something that I did really well,' said Turner. 'I was pushing, but I was also there to support, not only Aaron but the best of the team.'

Arsenal beat Turner and Forest 2-1 on the opening day of the Premier League season.

The next game for Turner will be on Friday, against Sheffield United.

Related: Arsenal Nottingham Forest Matt Turner
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