Arsenal has shocked the transfer world by making a move for Brentford keeper David Raya who was on his way to Bayern Munich.
Bayern are interested in signing the keeper on a loan deal but the Bees are not ready to send him out on loan as they would prefer a permanent sale and this is where Arsenal are about to stage a coup.
Brentford are asking £40 million for the 27-year-old and it looks like the Gunners are ready to shell out that amount despite spending around £30 million on Aaron Ramsdale just two years ago.
David Raya has been with Brentford since 2019 and his contract expires in 2024. The Bees have offered him a new deal but the keeper has refused to put pen to paper. Surprisingly, Thomas Frank’s side has refused to lower their demands despite the risk of losing him as a free agent next year. They still want £40 million for the keeper and as things stand, Arsenal are ready to pay up.
David Raya vs Aaron Ramsdale: Why does Arteta want the Spain international?
Mikel Arteta wanted a sweeper keeper which is why he went out and brought in Ramsdale and in these two seasons, the England international has been very good for Arsenal.
He’s played 78 games for Arsenal across all competitions keeping 29 clean sheets so many are surprised as to see why Arsenal will go out and pay £40 million for Bees keeper.
Last season, the Gunners keeper played in every Premier League game and he conceded 43 goals while the Bees keeper conceded 46 goals in the same number of matches. In terms of goals conceded and clean sheets, these two keepers were very neck to neck last campaign but we can see why Mikel Arteta is spending so much money on Spain international.
Aaron Ramsdale is in no way a bad keeper and he is pretty good with his feet but Raya is a far better keeper in terms of building attacks from the back. During the 22/23 season, Raya attempted 974 long passes as compared to 472 passes by the Arsenal No 1 and at the same time, he made 1047 forward passes in comparison to Ramsdale’s 572.
The Gunners keeper has a slightly better passing accuracy than David Raya(63.38% vs 60.75%) but the Spain international made a hell lot of more saves than Aaron Ramsdale(154 vs 95).
In terms of traditional goalkeeping stats both these keepers are very much neck to neck but when it comes to building up play and playing through the press, it’s David Raya who comes out on top.
Throughout their careers, Ramsdale and Raya have conceded almost the same number of goals(267 and 290 respectively) and they also have a very identical save percentage(70.7 and 74.4 respectively).
Two years ago, a player like Aaron Ramsdale was a top signing but right now, almost every big team in the Premier League has a goalkeeper who is brilliant with his feet and can distribute play very nicely. Maybe Mikel Arteta feels, the 25-year-old isn’t at the same levels as Andre Onana or Ederson which is probably why he’s asked Edu and co to go after David Raya.
The manager won’t mind another top-level keeper in his squad because Raya’s arrival will add great competition to the No 1 spot meaning next season, Ramsdale won’t be able to take his place for granted.
Arsenal have other areas to sort out as well but they won’t mind spending £40 million on David Raya, especially now that they are returning to the Champions League.
Will the keeper end up joining Arsenal?
The 27-year-old prefers a move to the Emirates Stadium instead of joining Bayern Munich so agreeing on personal terms will not be a problem.
Now, it’s all down to the two clubs and their negotiations. If Arsenal and Brentford can agree on the transfer fee then David Raya will move to North London well before the 23/24 season begins.
Stats via Squawka
