As a club, Arsenal haven’t always had the best of records when it comes to the transfer market.
The North Londoners have spent their fair share of money on players who were never worth their initial price tags, like Nicolas Pepe, simply not good enough, like Shkrodan Mustafi, and while he was a loan signing, they also brought in a player with a broken back in Kim Kallstrom.
However, in the last few years, under the leadership of Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar, the Gunners have become shrewd operators in the market and, as a whole, have seen their signings work out.
For example, one of their additions last season, who received plenty of criticism early on, has since become one of the most essential starters in the team.
David Raya’s first season
Yes, the player in question is Spanish goalkeeper David Raya, who was a surprise loan signing last summer, and we say surprise as going into that window, there was minimal discussion about Arsenal needing a new number one to replace fan favourite Aaron Ramsdale between the sticks.
In fact, many in the fanbase and media believed it was an utterly unnecessary addition to the team at the time, so both Arteta and the former Brentford ace came in for plenty of criticism and scrutiny.For example, former Manchester City and Newcastle United keeper Shay Given claimed that it looked like the manager was “signing a problem” at the time.
It was a mixed start to life in the team for the Barcelona-born shot-stopper as well, as even though he made a stunning save against Spurs in just his third appearance, he didn’t look entirely comfortable early on in the season and made some relatively high-profile and costly errors in the games away to Chelsea and Newcastle United.
In fact, despite finding his feet in the second half of the campaign, former professional and pundit Gary Neville found another way to criticise the 29-year-old, as he described his kicking in the 0-0 draw away to City as “terrible”, which, given the final result, felt quite nitpicky.
However, despite the outside noise and the occasional errors, Arteta could see what Raya brought to the team and stood by him, and after the start of this season, it just looks like another thing he’s got right.
Raya this season
Unsurprisingly, Raya has started all four of Arsenal’s games this season, and to say he’s been sensational would be downplaying it.
For example, he made a fantastic reaction save to keep the Gunners in the lead against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the club’s opening match.
The 29-year-old then took things a step further and kept this team in the game against Aston Villa by pulling off the save of the month to deny Ollie Watkins what looked to be a guaranteed goal.
He made five saves and won 100% of his duels against the Seagulls. Then, against Spurs on Sunday, he remained alert to the danger throughout the 95 minutes of action, and when he was called upon, he made several brilliant stops, and as fans have now become accustomed to, was a monster in the air.
Overall, the “outstanding” international, as data analyst Ben Mattinson has dubbed him, has firmly established himself as one of the most important players in the Arsenal squad and has become utterly undroppable.
Raya’s Arsenal record | |
|---|---|
Appearances | 45 |
Clean Sheets | 23 |
Goals Conceded | 32 |
Goals Conceded per Game | 0.71 |
Points per Game | 2.20 |
Ultimately, the questions surrounding Raya’s signing last summer weren’t crazy at the time, but in the year since, they have been made to look so, and once again, Arteta has been proven right.
