Mikel Arteta has indicated that Arsenal may need to engage in mind games when they welcome back Aaron Ramsdale to the Emirates Stadium this weekend.

Ramsdale served as Arsenal’s number one for two seasons after his arrival from Sheffield United in the summer of 2021, but he lost his starting position to David Raya last season. Consequently, the 26-year-old moved to Southampton on transfer deadline day this summer to secure more first-team football.

Ramsdale will make his first return to the Emirates Stadium since his departure when Southampton travel to face Arsenal this weekend. Arteta revealed that the pair have already spoken since Ramsdale's exit.

"I called him straight away after I received the news," he said during his pre-match press conference. "He was really happy. He’s a player that we loved a lot, very charismatic, and he left his mark at the club in the way that he carried himself. It will be very good to see him.

"Personally, I am grateful for what he contributed. When we signed him, there was a lot of noise surrounding him. We helped to create the environment he needed because we believed in his potential. He demonstrated it and earned the respect and admiration of all of us.

"Then the circumstances changed, as can happen in elite sport. It became difficult to navigate that situation naturally, and we decided to part ways. Hopefully, he feels grateful as well."

Having played for Arsenal so recently, Ramsdale is likely to be aware of some of Arteta's closely guarded tactics. One of Arsenal's notable strengths under the Spaniard has been their proficiency at set-pieces; since the start of last season, the Gunners have scored 26 goals from dead-ball situations.

Given his close working relationship with set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, Ramsdale is expected to know some of Arsenal's tells. Arteta has suggested that he may need to employ some 'mind games' to counter this knowledge.

"Perhaps we’ll tell him that we will adapt something but then do the same thing, so he’ll think we’re going to change!" he joked. "There may well be some mind games involved. I'm sure they will have discussed that. It's not the first time we've played against a player who was once part of our camp; it’s a natural occurrence. We need to have the capacity to understand this and continue to execute our strategies."

Ramsdale is yet to keep a clean sheet since joining Southampton. However, he will be hoping to add to his tally of 12 shutouts at the Emirates on Saturday.