Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert has left no ambiguity about his goalkeeping hierarchy, confirming that Daniel Peretz is established as the club's undisputed No. 1 for the season, with George Long as his deputy, while Aaron Ramsdale has been pushed out to under-21 football.
"Daniel was signed as our number one goalkeeper and George Long as our number two for the season," Eckert said, quoted by ONE. "We had a conversation early on, and since I arrived I've worked with Daniel and Longy. We were very clear about the situation." The coach added that he had also spoken to Ramsdale directly about where he stands.
The clarity comes after Ramsdale, needing minutes, asked to be included in Adam Lallana's Southampton under-21 side for a fixture against Blackburn Rovers, playing the full 90 minutes to keep himself sharp while his first-team future remains uncertain.
Eckert praised the 28-year-old England international's attitude in making that request, noting that competitive match time offers benefits a training pitch cannot replicate, even at under-21 level, and that his experience was valuable for a young Saints side.
The situation marks a striking fall for Ramsdale, who arrived at Southampton from Arsenal as their senior, high-profile goalkeeper and went on to make 32 appearances during the club's relegation from the Premier League, before being loaned out to Newcastle United for a Champions League campaign.
Peretz, by contrast, has gone from a mid-season loan arrival from Bayern Munich to first-choice status inside a matter of months. He joined on loan in January and immediately steadied a defence that had been leaking goals under previous goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, keeping eight clean sheets in 22 appearances.
Southampton made the move permanent this summer, and Peretz has since taken the club's No. 1 shirt outright — a rapid rise for the Israel international, who is now the clear starter ahead of an England World Cup winner's understudy in Long and a full England international in Ramsdale.
For Peretz, Eckert's public backing amounts to the strongest endorsement yet of his standing at St Mary's as Southampton prepare for a Championship campaign in which stability between the posts has been a priority all summer.
