And yet, as we head into August, Arsenal are believed to be weighing up a move for Brentford’s David Raya. North London rivals Tottenham were the frontrunners for the Spaniard earlier in the year, but were unable to agree a fee with the Bees for the 27-year-old. Despite Raya having less than a year to run on his current deal in west London, Brentford remained firm on their £40m valuation of the Spain international.
Spurs instead signed Guglielmo Vicario as the replacement for the experienced Hugo Lloris at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and it seemed increasingly likely that Raya would remain at Brentford. They have already secured his successor in Dutchman Mark Flekken, who joined from Freiburg, so are under no obligation to waiver on their asking price, though there is the risk they lose Raya for free next summer.
Bayern had been credited with an interest in Raya, but Arsenal are now the rumoured frontrunners for his services. While Ramsdale hasn’t necessarily put a foot wrong, for any top team to remain competitive, they need to look at ways to upgrade, and it’s fair to say that Raya would be an improvement on the England international.
Raya was one of the Premier League’s busiest goalkeepers last season. Only three teams faced more shots per game than Brentford (14.7) in England’s top tier last term, but the Bees man dealt with the threat with relative ease. Indeed, Raya made more saves (154) and boasted a better save success rate (75.1%) than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League last season. By comparison, Ramsdale made 94 saves and returned a save success rate of 69.3%.
https://www.whoscored.com/Articles/-_qoaOecTEeEOJguW5NNNg/Show/Why-Arsenal-are-considering-upgrading-Aaron-Ramsdale-with-David-Raya
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It would be interesting to see the fighting between Ramsdale and Raya.