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£1.5m man left of Arsenal’s Europa League squad as Mat Ryan and Martin Odegaard are included

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Alex Runarsson has been left out of Arsenal’s squad for the latter stages of the Europa League with Martin Odegaard and Mat Ryan having been included.

The Icelandic ‘keeper has been at the club since joining from Dijon in last summer’s transfer window for a mere £1.5m, however, has endured an underwhelming spell in north London.

Mistakes in a raft of appearances, including a couple in the Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester City, saw Mikel Arteta turn to Brighton and Hove Albion’s experience ace on a six-month loan.

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The signing of Runarsson proved to be one of the most disastrous for Arsenal given how poorly he’s performed this season. His ability across many areas of goalkeeping has been far from what you expect from any player in between the sticks, never mind a number two of Arsenal.

It was the clash against Manchester City which must’ve opened up Arteta’s eyes on just how much quality the former Ligue 1 ace actually possesses. As well as making a couple of mistakes leading to goals, Runarsson also completed just 71% of his passes as he proved suspect with the ball at his feet.

It does prove incredibly baffling that Arsenal would turn to a liability to replace Emiliano Martinez, who had proven to be a machine in goal for the Gunners towards the end of last season. The signs were there way before the 25-year-old was signed as statistics showed he possessed the worst save percentage of any ‘keeper in Europe’s top five leagues.

Arsenal’s low-balling in signing the Iceland international has backfired spectacularly and his omission from the Europa League squad causes embarrassment for the Reds.

In other news, these moments could cost Arsenal in their pursuit of Champions League football.

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