It would appear that Arsenal’s pursuit of goalkeeper, David Raya, was anything less than straightforward, with a number of other clubs apparently interested, including two from London.
Clearly, an approach from teams within the capital will have appealed to the custodian as it would’ve meant no need to uproot his family, though that wouldn’t necessarily have ruled out approaches from elsewhere.
Raya’s agent, Jaume Munell, explained in an exclusive interview with AFTV, that the Gunners had a long-standing interest in his client and that was the reason that, in the end, he signed for the north London outfit.
“Arsenal showed interest for the first time three years ago in 2021. They tried to buy him but Brentford didn’t want to sell him at any price. After they bought Ramsdale that was an easier option but David has always been the priority,” Munell noted.
“This summer, he had just one year left on his contract with Brentford and Arsenal was the club that showed the most concrete interest and have always been our priority.
“Tottenham also was interested and made an official bid but it was refused because was lower than the 40 million euros that Brentford wanted to sell him, also Bayern Munich was interested and had an amazing offer but with no buy option included and for this reason, we’ve not accepted it.
“Bayern Munich didn’t understand our refusal because they thought that Raya would have been the backup keeper at Arsenal but as you can see it’s not like this. Also Manchester United and Chelsea made an inquiry but nothing concrete.”
Financial Fair Play issues were also the reason behind why the move was a loan rather than permanent transfer this season according to Metro.
Though it was initially believed that Raya was leaving Brentford to challenge Aaron Ramsdale for the Arsenal No.1 shirt, it’s clear now that Arteta’s plan was to install the Spaniard as his preferred choice between the sticks.
It’s entirely possible that if the current status quo doesn’t change, that the England custodian will be on his way out of the club, perhaps even to Chelsea.
Much will depend on whether Arteta continues to prefer Raya over him, which appears likely given that Ramsdale hasn’t had a look in since he lost his place.