Many raised their eyebrows when Mikel Arteta decided to change his number-one goalkeeper at Arsenal last season.
It wasn’t a problematic area, in fact, Arsenal fans were pretty much happy with their option in between the sticks.
But Arteta had other ideas and he decided to bring in David Raya from Brentford on a season-long loan deal and it would spark trouble for Aaron Ramsdale.
Since then, Arsenal have gone from strength to strength and so has the man donning the goalkeeping gloves.
Arsenal narrowly missed out on winning the Premier League title to Manchester City last season, with the team recording the best defensive record in the league.
It might be a little late, in terms of timings, but players are now being rewarded by the PFA for their efforts last season and awards are being handed out.
As expected, Arsenal were heavily involved, with a total of five Arsenal players making the PFA’s Team of the Year.
Raya was selected to don the gloves, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes made the back four, with club-record transfer Declan Rice and captain Martin Odegaard sitting in the midfield.
Raya expressed his delight on Instagram at earning this award and he was lauded in the comments section by Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal for his efforts.
David Raya named in PFA’s Team of the Year
Carvajal wrote: ‘More than deserved, bro’, with other teammates, such as Martin Odegaard and Rice lauding his efforts.
Aaron Ramsdale’s Arsenal future
The England international hasn’t done much wrong, but this is the brutal reality of playing at the top of the league and how your place can be taken away from you in an instant.
Ramsdale is a player to watch in the transfer market before the window slams shut because he could head for the exit door and find a new club.
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He is best off making that move elsewhere because he will just continue to rot on Arsenal’s bench, otherwise – Arsenal have been told to sign Ivan Toney by using funds from the Ramsdale sale.
Ramsdale also has to look towards his England career and fight to dethrone Jordan Pickford from the number one spot.
Gareth Southgate has left his post as England manager and you never know what a change of boss can do to your chances of repping your country.
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