David Raya has extended his contract at Brentford by a further year in order to facilitate this loan; the Spain international is wanted by Arsenal to compete with No 1 Aaron Ramsdale; Brentford value the Spain international at £40m; Arsenal tried to sign Raya in the summer of 2020
Friday 11 August 2023 15:33, UK
Arsenal are finalising a deal to sign Brentford keeper David Raya.
The deal will see Arsenal sign Raya on loan for £3m with an option to buy for £27m.
Early indications suggest he hasn't been registered in time to be part of the squad that faces Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Brentford have extended Raya's contract by a year to protect his value if the option is not taken up. He had previously entered the final year of his deal.
Raya will provide competition for Aaron Ramsdale for the No 1 position.
Brentford have already signed a new goalkeeper in Mark Flekken, who joined for £11m from Freiburg in June.
Arsenal's goalkeeping coach Inaka Cana is a key aspect of the club's long-term interest in Raya.
Cana was previously the goalkeeping coach at Brentford and played a major part in Raya signing for the Bees from Blackburn in the summer of 2019.
They were both born in Barcelona and Cana has followed Raya's progress since his time as a youth player at Cornella, a smaller team based in the city.
Raya has spoken glowingly of Cana several times, especially amid Arsenal's interest in him again in 2021.
"He has helped me loads," Raya said. "He's a completely different character on the pitch, he's very hardworking, very tough, and I think every goalkeeper who's worked from him will tell you the same.
"You learn a lot, he puts you on your toes all the time, and he never lets you go down a level. He wants every single exercise 110 per cent, you cannot go 80. If you go 80, you cannot catch up, it's impossible."
The pair are understood to have remained friends despite Cana moving to Arsenal in December 2019 after just six months of working closely together.
Cana and Arsenal are understood to believe Raya fits the way Mikel Arteta's team play especially with his passing ability playing out from the back.
Sky Sports News senior reporter Melissa Reddy:
"There will be no automatic first-choice goalkeeper at Arsenal when the deal for David Raya is finalised with Mikel Arteta and Edu having designed the recruitment strategy this summer to ensure greater competition for starting spots in the squad.
"It was marked as one area that could solidify the club's status as serious title contenders. It was also flagged as an area Arsenal have been significantly weak in during recent history.
"The strategy has been communicated to both new signings and existing players in the squad - including Raya and Aaron Ramsdale. It can also be seen in the case of Declan Rice and Thomas Partey. The external perception was that the Ghanaian would be sold after Arsenal completed their club-record signing of Rice but this was contrary to Arteta's plan.
"The manager has told players he wants them to compete at the highest level amongst themselves in every position if they expect to regularly win major honours.
"It is understood that Ramsdale has welcomed the challenge of competing with Raya and believes it will push both goalkeepers to elevate their game."
Current Arsenal No 1 Ramsdale has been the regular between the two sticks for two years after ousting Bernd Leno at the Emirates in 2021, but risks losing his spot with Raya coming in.
Ramsdale told ITV Sport when asked about fresh competition in goal: "Bring it on. You know nothing comes easy in football but also at the same time you need to move along and need to adapt as well.
"I've done it to other people when I've moved to clubs so I'm not going to be thinking that it's never going to happen to me.
"If it happens, it happens and then we'll fight and we'll make each other the best version of ourselves because that's what the manager is telling us as well.
"And I'm sure whoever plays - me, Matt [Turner], whoever comes in - the individual disappointment will go away and you put the team first and you put that goalkeeper first as well."
No goalkeeper was used more - by his team-mates and the opposition players - last season.
Raya faced the most shots, made the most saves, claimed the second-most crosses, made more touches and completed the most passes out of all the other top-flight goalkeepers last season.
But what we have seen is a clear similarity between the way Arsenal and Brentford build up from the back with Cana working with both teams. In fact, their goal kick paths are almost identical.
Sky Sports spoke to some of Raya's former coaches to discover how the Spaniard went from non-league club Southport to the Premier League...
Who will be on the move this summer when the transfer window opens on June 14 and closes at 11pm on September 1 in England and midnight in Scotland?
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.