David Raya is set to become Mikel Arteta’s fourth signing of the summer after Arsenal agreed a £3million loan Ԁєɑł to sign the Brentford goalkeeper – including a £27million option to buy clause.
Arsenal legєɴԀ David Seaman and Manchester United icon Peter Schmeichel have disagreed on their verdicts of Mikel Arteta and Edu’s move to sign David Raya. The Gunners are set to sign the Spaniard on an initial season-longloan with an option tomake the move permanent,football.londonunderstands.
The Spain international was scheduled to complete a medical yesterdayahead of a move to the Emirates Stadiumafter agreeing personal terms, according to transfer expertFabrizio Romano. Raya entered the final 12 months of his contract with Brentford and now looks set to complete a switch to Arsenal.
To preserve his value, the Spaniard is set to extєɴԀ his contract at the G-Tech Community Stadium before completing a move to the Gunners. Arsenal are set to pay Brentford an initial £3million loan fee – with the Ԁєɑłincluding a £27millionoption to buy for the Gunners if all parties find the move agreeable – rather than an obligation.
Seaman has backed his former club’s move for Raya and says even Aaron Ramsdale will benefit from his arrival in north London. “The only way I can compare this is when Arsenal signed Richard Wright when I was No.1,” Seaman toldtalkSPORT.
“Һօɴєȿτly, it made me a better goalkeeper and I’m sure that’s what will happen with Aaron. You know, you get a chance in training to show what you can do and what sort of standards you’ve got to get to and I’m sure that that’s what Aaron will do.
“I’m in no doubt that Aaron will take this competition on. He’ll show what he can do and it will definitely make him a better goalkeeper.”
However, Schmeichel doesn’t understand the Gunners’ move to sign Raya with Aaron Ramsdale already the established No.1 goalkeeper at the Emirates Stadium. The United legєɴԀ toldBBC Radio 5 Live: “I don’t get it. I cannot understand how a manager can come to the conclusion that it’s a great thing to have competition for the No.1 shirt.
“A goalkeeper’s position is very reactive. You cannot create anything on your own, you have to wait for things to happen.
“You’re now asking your goalkeeper to prove you’re better than the other one. That means you now have to go and do stuff, and you don’t want that.
“It’s the one position on the pitch where you just want steady. When you have a competition situation, the keeper also plays that game for himself and for that position, and I don’t get it.
“What you do is you put a lot of insecurity into the two of them. At the same time, having two players challenging for No.1, you’re also creating potentially a bad atmosphere in the dressing room because it’s a straight up competition between two guys who will either start or not play.
“They need to know if it goes wrong, which it does now and again, everyone makes a mistake and everyone costs a goal, that the manager says, ‘that’s alright, mate, you’re still my No.1’. You need to have that confidence. If you don’t, you cannot perform 100% for the team.”
