Former Gunner preferred Arsenal spell to Crystal Palace | OneFootball

Former Gunner Matt Turner has suggested he felt he was judged more on merit during his time with Arsenal than with Crystal Palace.

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Former Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner currently plays in the MLS for New England Revolution, moving to the club on loan from Olympique Lyonnais this summer.

The whole transfer saga was a bit of a mess, with Lyon themselves only signing Turner from Nottingham Forest in August. With the club’s financial difficulties and ownership changes, Lyon initially tried to cancel the signing. When that failed, they loaned Turner out for the season instead.

But after a difficult summer, Turner is playing regular football again, starting seven consecutive MLS fixtures.

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That makes a change for the goalkeeper compared to last season, which he spent out on loan from Forest at Crystal Palace. Reflecting on the 2024/25 campaign and his previous spell with Arsenal, Turner suggested the Palace loan was more difficult for him mentally.

“I think the difficult part about not playing every week was that not only was I not playing at Crystal Palace, but there was no hope that if I trained really well I was going to play,” Turner said.

“Whereas when I was at Arsenal, I knew I could really push, and if I was going to train really well, they were going to give me opportunities to play, and I was going to merit and earn those opportunities. So I think at Crystal Palace that was really difficult for me.

“It put me in a tough spot with the national team, turning around and saying, ‘Oh, you know this is so important, I can’t mess this up, because this is the only game I’m going to have for however many months and I need to show my value.’”

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During his time with Arsenal, Turner played both FA Cup fixtures and five Europa League games, including the first leg of the last-16. The Gunners had Aaron Ramsdale as their number one, but Turner did still make a fair number of appearances.

With Palace, Turner played three times in the FA Cup, but then dropped out of the team for the later rounds. He also only started one of three League Cup fixtures, and no Premier League games.

In both cases, Turner clearly wasn’t first choice. But he had a consistent starting spot in the FA Cup and in Europe at Arsenal, only dropping out due to injury or poor form. With Palace, he dropped out simply because the games started to matter more.

But that’s all in the past now, and Turner’s focus will be on New England Revolution and setting himself up well for the 2026 World Cup.