“Do Arsenal need him?,” is the question most are asking following David Raya’s loan, and likely future permanent, transfer from Brentford.
Aaron Ramsdale, after all, is already established as Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper, kept 14 clean sheets (only two top-flight ‘keepers had more) last season as they finished as Premier League runners-up, and has been in every England squad for the past 14 months.
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To understand Arsenal’s reasoning in moving for Raya, we need to look back at what they have done before.
The approach to recruitment Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu Gaspar have adopted has been clear for two years: they have been building a squad to compete with itself as well as their Premier League rivals.
The north London club signed seven players aged 23 or under in 2021, built on that with experienced mid-twenties recruits last summer and have further solidified their foundations with a blend of those two characteristics so far in this window.
Ramsdale was one of those signings himself, arriving as part of the 2021 intake — 23 and ready to challenge the No 1 at the time, former Germany international Bernd Leno. He ended up replacing the Leno a lot quicker than many expected.
But Arsenal’s interest in Raya pre-dates all of that, going back to the summer of 2020 — the first where Arteta and Edu were working together behind the scenes, and when he was in his first season, in the Championship, with Brentford. Three years on, they saw an opportunity and went for it; signing a quality goalkeeper for at least 12 months without having to make any more significant expenditure in this window.
📰 David Raya has signed a new two-year Brentford deal, with a further one-year club option, before joining Arsenal on loan for the 2023/24 campaign
Arsenal have an option to make the transfer permanent next summer
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) August 15, 2023
Arsenal have already spent over £200million ($254m) combined on Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice this summer and need to ensure they comply with the financial rules of both the Premier League and European football governing body UEFA.
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Here’s how the £3million loan deal, which includes an option to make the move permanent for £27m next summer, came about…
The key to Arsenal’s long-standing interest in Raya is their goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana.
The Spaniard, who shares an agent with Raya, has been in north London for three-and-a-half years, having been part of Arteta’s initial core of first-team assistants when he replaced Unai Emery in December 2019.
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Cana came to the club from then-Championship side Brentford, where he had been their goalkeeping coach since June 2018. He was vital in identifying his countryman as a target for the west Londoners in 2018-19, before head coach Thomas Frank was fully convinced by his display in a 5-2 home win over Raya’s Blackburn Rovers in the February of that season, when he initiated a counter-attack from which Blackburn scored.
Frank bought a 23-year-old Raya that July, and Cana has been insistent on bringing him to Arsenal since his own move there later that year.
He became an option the following summer, at a crossroads for Arsenal’s goalkeeping department, which resulted in long-time back-up and eventual 2022 World Cup winner Emiliano Martinez being sold to Aston Villa.
Raya was viewed as a player who fitted Arteta’s model for a goalkeeper and had the bonus of counting as homegrown, which was important for Arsenal.
Blackburn had an arrangement with Raya’s boyhood club Cornella, in Barcelona, where they would take the club’s most promising players on trial. Raya got his trial aged 16 in 2012 and was signed, despite worries he may not reach six feet in height. He spent two years in Blackburn’s academy and then five in their first-team group, which included a 2014-15 loan to non-League Southport.
Brentford, though, refused to sell him three years ago as they readied themselves for what turned out to be a promotion-winning season in the Championship, having lost the 2019-20 play-off final to Fulham. So Arsenal pivoted to another Cana mentee, then 25-year-old Alex Runarsson of Danish club Nordsjaelland.
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When that signing did not work out, Arsenal were back in the goalkeeper market in summer 2021 and in came Ramsdale, from Sheffield United, after their relegation to the Championship.
Once again, Cana was influential here.
Goalkeeping coaches’ opinions are given significant weight compared to outfield positions when it comes to recruitment, given the highly-specialised nature of the role and the close working relationship the coaches and goalkeepers tend to have.
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Cana also had a part to play in U.S. international ‘keeper Matt Turner joining Arsenal from New England Revolution in MLS last season and attempted to improve his distribution during his year at the club, but the stylistic differences between him and Ramsdale were too great.
Turner performed respectably, keeping four clean sheets in his seven appearances in the FA Cup and Europa League, but although he gained confidence with the ball at his feet, he was always viewed as second-choice. That situation was solidified by the new long-term contract Ramsdale signed in May, which recognised him as the club’s No 1 in terms of his wages, too.
The American wanted to pursue being a first-choice heading into the summer as a result, but that did not impact the pair’s very close relationship, which was seen after the Community Shield win over Manchester City at Wembley last Sunday.
With Matt Turner departing @Arsenal, this is too wholesome to not share on here 🥲
The GK Union bond is strong ❤️#CommunityShield pic.twitter.com/k2sEAmRq2O
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) August 9, 2023
Brighton had early interest in Turner but that had waned before fellow Premier League side Nottingham Forest paid £10million for him last week.
Forest emerging as firm candidates to sign Turner helped the dominos fall Arsenal’s way on Raya.
After their promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs in 2021, Brentford decided against handing out new contracts until they had seen how their players performed in the top flight.
Raya started well, but then missed 14 games between October and February with a knee injury. Frank’s side struggled without him and lost nine of the 14, conceding 29 goals (an average of 2.1 per game). The Spaniard’s return, along with the January arrival of Christian Eriksen, was a turning point in their season, and they won seven of their final 11 matches, keeping four clean sheets, to comfortably avoid relegation.
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A contract offer was made in the May, but the terms were rejected. A second proposal, which would have made Raya one of the best-paid players in the club’s history, was made in January this year, but that was turned down too. He has now signed a new two-deal at Brentford to facilitate the loan move to Arsenal, giving the west London club protection if the deal is not made permanent.
Raya’s camp wanted a package at Brentford reflective of his status as a Spain international — he won two caps last year and was in both their World Cup squad and the one that won the Nations League final this summer — and one of the most consistent keepers in the Premier League.
The club, however, were still keen to grow organically, having only reached the Premier League for the first time in 2021 after not playing top-flight football since the 1940s, and conscious of keeping their wage structure under control. They failed to reach a compromise and Brentford accepted Raya would leave — either for a fee this summer or as a free agent next year. Brentford’s wage bill during the 2021-22 season was £68.1million — the lowest in the top flight. Raya was not one of their biggest earners and, even after a significant rise with his new contract, his wages will be more manageable to a club of Arsenal’s size.
In a press conference at the end of the season, Frank stated Raya would be worth £40million this summer. Brentford had not sold any of their key players since they were promoted two years ago and this situation would test their resolve.
Raya also told The Athletic in February he would have no issue staying at Brentford for another year and leaving on a free, but the club were already succession-planning by then. They wanted to be proactive — not reactive.
Mark Flekken was signed from German Bundesliga club Freiburg on May 31 for €13million (around £11m/$14m) and the now 30-year-old was told he would be first-choice for the 2023-24 season — irrespective of whether Raya stayed or left.
Importantly, this did not change Raya’s approach. He returned for pre-season as usual and, despite playing for just 45 minutes on Brentford’s three-match U.S. tour, Frank described him as “fantastic in every aspect” after they drew 0-0 with French club Lille last Saturday in their final warm-up game.
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There was also interest from Chelsea, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Tottenham — who enquired about Raya’s price but never made a bid. German champions Bayern identified Raya as the right profile for a ball-playing goalkeeper and received good reports on his personality and stature, even if a taller player would have been preferred. Negotiations went well with Brentford but fell through — Bayern wanted a loan, and the only way Brentford would allow that was if Raya signed a new contract, which he did not want to do.
By the time Arsenal entered the frame as Raya’s sole suitors, there was no looking back. Although they may have been lucky Real Madrid’s need for a goalkeeper, after a serious knee injury for Thibaut Courtois, only emerged at the end of the process; Raya is a Madrid supporter, despite being born on the outskirts of Barcelona.
The north London club initially approached Brentford with a bid in the region of £20million for a permanent deal but, as negotiations continued, the compromise of an initial loan with an option to buy gave both clubs the sense of control they wanted.
Brentford have fallen short of their £40million target but potentially getting around £30m for a player who had less than a year left on his contract and had publicly declared he wanted to leave is still thought to represent good value for them.
They also felt it was important to stand their ground.
Their leading striker Ivan Toney’s contract runs out in the summer of 2025, so they could be in a similar situation with him next year if he does not sign an extension beforehand. By pushing Arsenal to raise their initial offer for Raya, Brentford believe they have shown other clubs they do not accept cut-price deals when a player does not have long left on his contract.
Should Raya’s season on loan be successful, Arsenal can progress the deal for a respectable fee (£27million) which has already been agreed. If it’s not, they won’t.
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The deal grants both clubs flexibility.
If things go to plan, they still receive a fee near their record sale (striker Ollie Watkins went to Aston Villa for £28million in 2020). If not, they have another chance to sell Raya next summer, rather than losing him on a free. However, all parties expect this move across London to become permanent.
While the structure of the deal may seem similar to what Bayern were prepared to do, there is a key difference: this was Arsenal.
Raya was already sold on Arsenal’s project when they were initially interested in him in 2020.
After that link became serious again this summer, they were always his preferred destination. He therefore made the exception of signing a new contract at Brentford to facilitate a move to the Emirates Stadium, something which he decided not to do ahead of a potential switch to Bayern — even if it may seem more attractive to be an undisputed No 1 for Germany’s top club.
The 27-year-old has not been guaranteed the starting spot by Arsenal, but he no longer had one at Brentford either after the signing of Flekken. He will provide competition in the goalkeeping group and represents a much smaller gap in quality to Ramsdale than Turner did last season.
Ramsdale has been aware of their interest in Raya for a while and appears ready to fight for his place.
“Bring it on,” he told UK broadcaster ITV, when asked about Arsenal making potential reinforcements in goal.
“Nothing comes easy in football. At the same time, you need to move along and adapt yourself. I’ve done it to other people (Leno) when I’ve moved to clubs (Arsenal), so I’m not going to be thinking that it’s never going to happen to me.
“If it happens (a signing), it happens and then we’ll fight and make each other the best version of ourselves because that’s what the manager is telling us as well… The goalkeeping union is something people laugh at, but it’s a real thing. Your individual disappointment will go away and you’ll put the team and that goalkeeper (who is chosen to play) first.”
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From Raya’s perspective, the prospect of providing competition and potentially earning a starting spot at Arsenal, who are back in the Champions League this season, was better than doing so at Brentford, who came close but missed out on European qualification with a ninth-place finish. It could also improve his chances of becoming Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper for next summer’s European Championship in Germany.
Arteta and his staff will also be encouraged by Raya’s conduct during his final months in west London. Despite his impending departure, his professionalism and lack of complaints shone through in training and left an impression on Frank.
The Brentford coach has long-since trusted Raya, including him in the club’s leadership group alongside Toney, Christian Norgaard and Pontus Jansson last season. He captained Brentford on multiple occasions when others were unavailable through injury or suspension. That much will tick another box for Arteta in regards to the sort of person Arsenal are signing and how he will integrate with their squad.
While there is some external and internal confusion about the ‘need’ for Arsenal to sign Raya, given Ramsdale’s presence and potential to strengthen other areas instead, that has not been the case with the club’s decision-makers.
Only time will tell if they can make it work, but Arteta is getting what he wants. After getting more strength in depth at outfield positions, he has got it with two quality players who fit his mould of goalkeeper, too.
Arsenal’s objective this summer was to ensure they did not stand still after the progress made last season. They already proved they meant business when they signed Rice for a record fee for a British player, as well as Timber and Havertz. With Raya now at the club, that ambition cannot be questioned.
This move has been a long time in the making.
Now Raya, Ramsdale, Arteta and Cana have the task of proving it has been worth the wait.
(Top photo: John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)