Raya joins Arsenal

Pepe LeFrits

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/aug/08/arsenal-agree-deal-worth-up-to-30m-to-sign-david-raya-from-brentford

Wenger would not approve

Mirth

Wanted to post this in the Raya thread but since it’s locked.

Remember when evaluating goalkeepers it’s not 1999 anymore.

If you’re talking about being worried about errors or clangers we may as well have stayed with Leno who is a better or as good as being a traditional goalkeeper than Ramsdale or Raya.

You can down play the distribution of a goalkeeper but if Raya proves himself to be 20% better than Ramsdale on the ball and more or less as good at shot stopping he will be number one.

Don Pacifico

For what it's worth, as much as I've criticised this signing, the point I made about clangers in the other thread was less a criticism of Raya and more a critique of the notion that he was a significant upgrade on Ramsdale.

Mirth I get Raya's superiority in long ball distribution but I don't think it's incrementally significant enough to warrant this purchase when we have Ramsdale (Arteta clearly disagrees). Fundamentally, if we've spent the best part of £60m on two 'keepers, I'd rather have at least one of them be elite tier. As it stands, I hope Raya is content being back-up and that his presence encourages Aaron to new heights.

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Risky business as Ramsdale a popular boy in the dressing room and a big personality.

I hope it works out so it’s ‘win-win’ but I feel in a year we will have to say an emotional bye bye to Aaron which will suck. Yes, you get good keepers everywhere, but you rarely get a GK who turns out to be a cult hero.

KingslandBarge

Sicario2 - Tier 1 Ramsdale definitely endeared himself to many a gooner, and several of my fond memories of last season include him. I like Ramsdale's intangibles and have yet to assess Raya's. This should give Aaron good motivation to drink less tea and more water, stretch and watch his hamstrings, and raise his overall standard. Agree with everyone thats questioned use of funds, but hey, I am ready to focus on just the football.

Clrnc Not to mention Bayern!

lorddulaarsenal

Not sure he’s a cult hero.

If the goalies are good they get plenty of love. Like Seaman, and Lehmann

Clrnc

haha Spuds really spent 2 months chasing him and couldn't afford him, only for Edu to swoop in in Aug and got him for 10m cheaper

lorddulaarsenal

Raya looks excellent. He covers angles better than most

Mirth

Don Pacifico I get Raya's superiority in long ball distribution but I don't think it's incrementally significant enough to warrant this purchase when we have Ramsdale (Arteta clearly disagrees). Fundamentally, if we've spent the best part of £60m on two 'keepers, I'd rather have at least one of them be elite tier. As it stands, I hope Raya is content being back-up and that his presence encourages Aaron to new heights.

If Arteta's past treatment of players is anything to by then he'll be happy for both of them to fight it out without promising anyone the number 1 shirt. That's how he dealt with Leno and Martinez.

Ramsdale has the higher upside but if he needs a fire lit under him to realise that potential then a net £20m outlay is actually an astute use of funds. There's talk of spending those funds on a striker but £20m won't even get you squad filler up front these days.

But also - remember that Raya is a player that Arteta has wanted for at least 2 seasons and I bet it's largely because of how much better Raya is on the ball. The potential upside of having a goalkeeper that is as comfortable on the ball is a very significant upgrade to our overall play. Arteta isn't even unusual in wanting this. Ten Haag wanted Onana for the same reason. Pep went through Hart and Bravo to land on Ederson for the same reasons. Hell, Arteta himself binned Leno - who everyone thought was a solid keeper and runner up for our player of the season under Emery - for someone incrementally better on the ball i.e. Ramsdale. This is just an extension of the same thought process.

DiabyKungFu

Raya isn't better then Ramsdale because Ramsdale makes some unusually large number of mistakes. Raya is better than Ramsdale because he is a much better shot stopper and probably a better passer too.

Clrnc

https://griffinpark.org/forums/threads/david-raya-to-arsenal-for-%C2%A330m.139039/page-64

A rare transfer deal where both set of fans are delighted. Brentford fans seem to like us and hate Spuds. The way they adore Raya gives me confidence.

mdgoonah41

we are essentially paying £20m for him, because we are getting £10m for turner, and they are swapping spots in the squad. £20m for raya is still questionable when we have no depth at striker, but if ramsdale picked up a big injury, id feel much better having raya in goal than turner.

Big Willie

mdgoonah41 we are essentially paying £20m for him, because we are getting £10m for turner, and they are swapping spots in the squad.

Not really since we spent 5-6m on Turner just 12 months ago. Also the 10m is 7m + 3m in potential addons.

Anyways, welcome to the club Raya. Much as I really like Aaron, his kicking has gone to shit over mid to recent past and I'm not sure whether that's a confidence thing or something else entirely because we know what he's capable of when he really gets going.

Raya's pretty great on the ball, especially his long kicking, and even though we don't necessarily play it long often, it would be a good option to have in certain situations. Overall I can see this being a good signing for the coming season whether it be directly as a result of Raya winning the spot himself, or whether it be indirectly through the competition he gives Aaron that propels the latter to greater heights.

Burnwinter

mdgoonah41 It's also the case that after this shakes out between Raya and Ramsdale, one of the two will move on, much as Leno did. Except this time we should take at least £20m when that takes place, albeit needing to find our next prospective keeper.

I can't look at this deal and think both players will be happy with their lot next summer.

Panda

Good signing. Ramsdale was getting sloppy and he needed the competition in my opinion.

I don't see how we can keep them both happy as they are both around the same level and should be starters for their clubs.

Is it really possible to give 2 keepers 50:50 games? Is that even the plan? Or are we just upgrading on Ramsdale and Raya will take over by mid-season and Ramsdale will be gone soon.

TambourineMan

I seem to remember Ramsdale going straight in for Leno when he was signed. I wonder if it'll be the same with Raya. Arteta does not seem to be the sentimental type.

Claudius

This is a possession signing. I doubt he improves us on shot stopping, but he will be able to beat the press’s and make us more secure under pressure. Our bottom just got raised big time.

Gazza M

Claudius the floor has been spit-shined to within in an inch of its life. hopefully we clear a few of the cobwebs on the ceiling next summer

Qwiss

I really like Raya but there's always the worry that he's Spanish.

flobaba

Yeah!

Wait. What?

invisibleman18

Not sure about this. Would feel sad if the intention is to replace Ramsdale as I love him, think he's great and a big personality in the dressing room and been a big part of the shift in culture. We just gave him a new contract too I believe. And I don't see justification for replacing him with Raya. I get that it makes the position stronger in that we have another of a similar level to call on if one is out but as we've seen in the recent past that will work for one season but next summer the one who's not picked will be leaving to be number 1 elsewhere. I guess that's just the nature of elite competition but I'm personally not seeing an upgrade being signed here.

Difficult to know whether the intention is to replace Ramsdale which comes a bit out of nowhere for me Or is it more that an unexpected opportunity came up? We've been interested in Raya for a while and probably didn't expect he still wouldn't have moved at this point in the window. And if Turner was set on leaving we had to sign someone and an opportunity was there for someone who's been a number 1 in this league. Can't imagine either is keen to not play this season when there's a Euros squad to make next summer too.

Claudius

invisibleman18 I think it’s the latter - unexpected opportunity. We know Turner isn’t good enough as a back up in a pivotal season. And Inaki Cana, our goalkeeping coach, really rates Raya and has a good relationship with him. We looked at him a couple of seasons ago. So it’s a move that has been cooking. It’s clear Arteta/Edu are always after improvement opportunities. This guy gives us Ederson level possession play.