David Seaman has admitted he told Aaron Ramsdale to "have a belter" against Arsenal earlier this season.

The 61-year-old has struck up a blossoming friendship with Ramsdale over the years, given that the 26-year-old keeper was a staple at the Emirates between 2021 and 2024 - with the England legend even said to have informally trained the up-and-comer at London Colney shortly after arriving in north London.

Ramsdale enjoyed 89 appearances for the Gunners after arriving from Sheffield United on a deal worth up to as much as £24million, but his time under Mikel Arteta came to a close this summer when he made the move to Southampton - new boy David Raya favoured by the Spanish mastermind.

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However, it appears as though Seaman hasn't lost contact with Ramsdale since his move away from the capital, admitting that he sent him some words of encouragement when the Saints faced the Gunners in the Premier League in October. Speaking on the Seaman Says podcast, via Betway, the Arsenal legend explained: "I texted him before the game.

"I said, 'brilliant interview on Sky', because I watched that one, and I said 'play your game and have a belter'. I really wanted him to have a belter because no matter what the score was, I wanted him to play well."

Arsenal ran out 3-1 winners on the day, but Seaman believes that Ramsdale still put on an emphatic performance and that he was pleased for the talent. He added: "With the second goal, when the cross came in, there were two of them going for it so he had to make sure that the first one didn’t head it first, and then he had to adjust to the other one.

"It's so close to him by that time, you're hoping it hits you because you haven’t got time to react. It was a good finish. The only thing that people might question is that it was his near post, but he had no time to react at all because it was so close. But he made saves as well. I was happy for him, but he's let three in."

Cameron Archer put the Saints 1-0 up 55 minutes into the fixture, cutting in from the left-hand side before burying the ball into the far corner of the net. However, it didn't take Kai Havertz long to level the playing field for Arsenal, bursting through the centre of the pitch three minutes later before firing with power past Ramsdale who saw the ball late due to an obscured view.

Garbriel Martinelli made it 2-1 to the home team after being picked out at the back post by Bukayo Saka with 68 minutes played, squeezing the ball past Ramsdale first-time before wheeling off in celebration. Saka himself sealed the deal with two minutes of normal time left to play.

Leandro Trossard drove through the centre of the pitch on the break relatively unchallenged until he approached the edge of Southampton's area, when Joe Aribo managed to momentarily dispossess Arsenal in a last-ditch effort. The ball ultimately bobbled towards Saka's feet, who ran onto the ball and hit it first time to make the score 3-1.

Ramsdale will now have to wait until May to hopefully exact his revenge on his old side, Arsenal and Southampton not slated to play each other in the league until the last game of the season come May 25.