Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta made a rather bold decision to drop Aaron Ramsdale for David Raya back in September – but it has paid off.
The Gunners allowed Matt Turner to leave the club for Nottingham Forest over the summer, with the American spending just one year at the Emirates Stadium.
In came David Raya as a replacement as Arsenal struck a deal to take the Spaniard on loan from Brentford with an option to buy.
Aaron Ramsdale kept his place as Arsenal’s first-choice stopper in the first month of the season, but that all changed after the first international break.
Raya came in and as much as Arteta talked about rotation and even substituting goalkeepers, Ramsdale hasn’t been able to force his way back in.
Raya has now won the Premier League Golden Glove award for the 2023-24 season, boasting 16 clean sheets this term.
David Raya on Arsenal future
Arsenal now have a decision to make.
The Gunners can turn Raya’s loan move permanent for around £27million with Fabrizio Romano suggesting that the deal has already been rubber-stamped.
Until the summer transfer window though, anything can change and Raya has now been asked about his future at Arsenal.
Raya has told The Daily Mail that it ultimately isn’t up to him whether or not he stays, putting it all on Arteta and Arsenal to make a decision.
Raya is hopeful that his performances have been good enough to land a long-term deal, adding that it would be a real ‘dream come true’ to sign for Arsenal permanently.
“It’s not up to me, the contract,” said Raya. “It’s up to the club and to Mikel. If my performances have been good enough then hopefully they will offer me a long-term contract.”
“I am just focused on the present. I don’t want to think too much about the future. I just want to focus on training and the game. Of course, I would love to be here next season and, if that’s the case, it would be amazing, a dream come true to sign for this club,” he added.
Arsenal may need to look for another goalkeeper
It’s clear that Arteta has enormous faith in Raya and it would be more fo a surprise if Arsenal didn’t activate that permanent move for Raya.
£27million for a Premier League-proven goalkeeper who has just won the Golden Glove certainly looks like a decent deal.
Raya should still have plenty of quality years ahead of him at 28 years of age, so Arsenal could have their number one sorted for a long time yet.
Beyond Raya, Arsenal’s goalkeeping situation isn’t quite so clear.
Ramsdale can’t really afford to sit on the Arsenal bench for another season and he may well need to move on this summer.
HITC understands that Newcastle United are very interested in Ramsdale and talks have been opened with Arsenal over a possible deal.
Magpies boss Eddie Howe worked with Ramsdale at Bournemouth and would seemingly fancy a reunion at St James’ Park.
If Ramsdale does move on, Arsenal will need another stopper to come in and offer cover and competition behind Raya.
Who knows, maybe a new goalkeeper signing could end up emulating Raya and become Arsenal’s first-choice stopper in the process as Arteta looks for any way in which Arsenal can improve moving forward.
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