Will David Raya keep it up next season?
David Raya has recently been seen in action for Spain in goal at the Euros who are top of Group B, they’re the only side who have won all their games at the tournament so far, however a year ago he could only dream of the occasion.
What’s happened in the space of that time?
On August 15th Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta signed Raya from Brentford after the Bees second ever season of playing in the Premier League as their number one goalkeeper, who had helped them previously re-enter the top-flight of English footballer after 74 years in 2021.
At the time of signing, Arsenal sporting director Edu acknowledged his quality and believed he could only upgrade the squad overall “David is a top-quality goalkeeper, who has consistently performed to a high level with Brentford in the Premier League. With David joining us we are adding quality and depth to our squad so we can perform at the highest possible level in all competitions.”
Raya was signed originally on loan for £3 million, but by the end of last season when The Gunners finished second in the Premiership, he had become our number one being taken on permanently last month this summer for £27 million.
At the start of last season he was arguably a bench warmer despite coming to Arsenal after having recorded 12 clean sheets in his previous Premier League campaign at “The Bees”, but still, he was regarded as a top goalie alongside Aaron Ramsdale who was the main man in goal for us at the time.
After four games played of the 2023/24 Premier League season the Spaniard was handed his full debut versus Everton in which The Gunners won 1-0 witnessing Raya score a clean sheet straight away. He would eventually claim 16 clean sheets altogether for the rest of the Premier League season to be awarded The Premier League Golden Glove, becoming the first Gunner in a decade to seal the accolade, since Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny shared it with Chelsea’s Petr Cech with the same tally of clean sheets.
Raya near enough cemented his position as number one goalie from that moment onwards something fans questioned before Ramsdale reappeared and stumbled on multiple occasions being shown up by his new rival at The Emirates.
However Raya had certainly looked questionable at times too, especially during our 3-2 win versus Spurs late on when he let them back into the encounter with a silly mistake. He also looked unconfident in the 1-0 win earlier on in the season against Manchester City, mishandling the ball multiple times giving Arsenal fans the hippy shake and not for the better either.
The much improved goalie from that day onwards stands firm in goal for our up and coming season, but will Raya maintain his calmness and earn back to back Golden Gloves and perhaps a Premier League title for Arsenal?
Or will Arteta bring in yet another keeper to challenge him for the top spot?
Liam Harding
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