AARON RAMSDALE has revealed the touching reason why he brought his late granddad’s ashes with him after signing for Arsenal.
The goalkeeper finally completed his £30million dream move to the Emirates and was recently unveiled as a Gunners player.
And as he posed for pictures with an Arsenal shirt, he did so with his grandfather’s ashes beside him.
Ramsdale, 23, said: “The day my mum found out she was pregnant with me was the day he died.
“He was called Ron and was from Bloxwich in Birmingham and they used to say, ‘Oh, we’re going to see our Ron’.
“So I’m Aaron for ‘our Ron’. When his ashes were spread my dad kept some of his ashes.
“He’s gone on a little tour of the 92 [teams in the Football League]!
“My dad brings him all to the games and will have a picture with him in the stadiums.
“I did say in the car this morning that he wasn’t coming out but it was a nice touch… he would have been a footballer if his dad had allowed him and he was a goalkeeper so there are little connections between us both.
“My dad takes him everywhere. It keeps him close to his heart.”
Ramsdale has been linked with a move to the Emirates all summer, where he will provide competition to German Bernd Leno, 29.
But Sheffield United refused to budge on their price tag, leaving the England keeper’s future up in the air until Arsenal paid the £30m.
Ramsdale said: “It’s been difficult. It’s never easy when you are trying to focus on playing your football with speculation in the background, it’s difficult. Now, I am here and everything is sorted.
“It’s been a long few days, but it’s finally over the line and now I can get onto the training pitch and crack on and hopefully do what I do best.”
