Southampton announce the £25m signing of Aaron Ramsdale from Arsenal, as the goalkeeper dresses up as Hagrid for his unveiling – after disguising himself as the Harry Potter character at last season’s play-off final

Southampton have announced the signing of Aaron Ramsdale from Arsenal. The goalkeeper dresses up as Hagrid from the Harry Potter films.

It’s rather hilarious that Ramsdale was spotted wearing a Hagrid costume during Southampton’s play-off final against Leeds last season.

The goalkeeper later revealed that he had donned the outfit when he went to Wembley to support winger David Brooks, who was on loan at Saints at the time. The pair are good friends and it is their tradition to wear the costume to the play-offs should one of their friends be playing under the arch.

Ramsdale joins the south coast club in an initial £18million deal, with Southampton expected to pay a further £7million in add-ons.

The 26-year-old has signed a four-year contract to stay at St Mary’s and can extend his contract for a further 12 months.

Ramsdale wore a Hagrid costume during the Championship play-off final at Wembley

This ends his three-year stay at the Emirates Stadium after Ramsdale was displaced as Mikel Arteta’s first choice by David Raya.

Ramsdale told the club today of his unique choice of fancy dress: ‘A group of my mates, we all play football and there are a few lads who don’t, we’ve been twice before to watch our mate Harvey Gilmore who played for Tranmere and Halifax,’ he said. ‘Both times we dressed up.

“A group of my mates, we all play football and there’s a few lads who don’t, we’ve been twice before to watch our mate Harvey Gilmore who played for Tranmere and Halifax,” he said. “Both times we were dressed up.”

Ramsdale was spotted in the stands cheering on Southampton’s David Brooks, a good friend

Saints announced his arrival on the iconic film character’s X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Yer a Saint, @AaronRamsdale98,” before writing in a separate post, “Wizard of the window.”

Ramsdale made 89 appearances for Arsenal after joining from Sheffield United for £26million in 2021.

He made 11 appearances in all competitions last season but will now be given the chance to play for the first team after Arsenal signed Raya on a permanent deal earlier this season.

“I’m absolutely delighted with it,” Ramsdale told the club.

‘The way the manager wants to play, the way he was when I spoke to him, he was just full of enthusiasm. I’d never met him before but he made me feel like I was about eight feet tall, which is exactly what you want.’

Speaking about his lack of playing time last season, he said: ‘I felt like I was on the bench and I don’t want to do that again. Playing football, winning football games, even drawing away against big opponents or when your back is against the wall.

‘When you see the fans’ faces at the end of the game, you know how much joy that brings. And also the joy it brings to the squad on Monday morning, after a messy win in the final phase away from home or a hard-fought win against a strong opponent.’

Arsenal’s second goalkeeper posed for a selfie with a supporter at BOXPARK Wembley

Later he recorded a conversation in the stands – minus Hagrid’s bushy black stick-on beard

Speaking about his choice of costume for the play, Ramsdale told Sky Sports News in May: ‘Every time one of our friends goes to Wembley we dress up. It’s something we’ve done before and we’ve won three times with it, so we’re not going to break the tradition now.’

“To see what he’s done over the years, what he’s been through, to see him on that field, to see how upset he was, and then to win, it was amazing.”

More to come…