David Raya sits on a stool in his Arsenal training top. Hanging over his right shoulder is the Golden Glove trophy, awarded to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in each Premier League season. This year it belongs to the Spaniard.
As for the trophy he and everyone else at Arsenal really want to win, maybe you have to wait another season. However, Raya thinks the title will come. He is sure it will come.
“You can’t stop,” says Raya, who has kept 16 clean sheets in the Premier League this season.
‘You have to keep going and going until you get through that wall. Just hit and hit until you crack it. That’s the only way to success and I think this club is going in the right direction with the right mentality and the right people and the right players. To go through that wall and just break through.”
Raya’s metaphor is a good one and with that in mind it’s hard not to imagine the faces of Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City team of champions-elect painted on the stones in his imagination.
David Raya has had a sensational season at Arsenal since joining on loan from Brentford
Raya won the Premier League’s Golden Glove award this season after keeping 16 clean sheets
While Arsenal may have to wait until next season to win the league, Raya (right) is confident the title will come in the future
On Sunday, Arsenal will play the last game of the season against Everton at the Emirates. If they win, it will be their sixteenth win in their last eighteen Premier League games. But a total of 49 points from 54 won’t quite be enough if City beat West Ham to end their own season with ten straight wins to clinch a fourth successive league title. These are the standards in the modern Premier League.
“It’s progress and it’s learning,” Raya explains. ‘You see how the club and the team have developed. It’s unbelievable. Arsenal had a fantastic season last season. We are having a fantastic season this season. It’s progress. The numbers are there.
“But the point is that we are competing in the best league in the world with the best teams in the world. We play against the best players in the world. City won the Treble last season. Liverpool won the Champions League and the Premier League not so long ago. We are competing against the best, but the progress of this club means we are getting better and that gives us confidence for next season.”
Raya chats in an executive lounge at Arsenal’s beautiful stadium on a beautiful spring day. To his left we look down through the glass at the vast greenery.
Raya has made this place feel like home for the past nine months. It’s been a struggle at times. It was difficult at first to prove that he is a worthy successor to last year’s number 1, Aaron Ramsdale, and even if he has proven himself worthy over time, there is still one final box to be checked, one important piece of paper that still needs to be signed.
The 28-year-old Raya is still rented from his parent club Brentford. Technically, Sunday’s match could be his last for manager Mikel Arteta’s side. He hopes not.
The Gunners enter the final day of the season two points behind Man City in the table
Raya insists Arsenal are ‘making progress’, adding they will be very confident going into next season
Raya hopes Sunday’s crucial match against Everton at the Emirates is not his last for the club
“It’s not me, the contract,” Raya laughs. ‘It’s up to the club and Mikel. If my performance is good enough, hopefully they will offer me a long-term contract.
‘I’m just focused on the present. I don’t want to think too much about the future. I just want to concentrate on training and the match. Of course I would love to be here next season and if so it would be great, a dream come true to sign for this club.”
A safe pair of hands! No goalkeeper has recorded more shutouts than Raya in the Premier League this season
It seems inconceivable that Raya won’t be a full-fledged part of the facility by the time August rolls around. Ramsdale – an England international – may also have to move on.
That’s difficult, but that’s also the life of a goalkeeper. The two men are friends and Raya insisted that Ramsdale be part of the photo taken this week to commemorate his Golden Glove award.
Nevertheless, the early part of Raya’s time at Arsenal was not easy.
“I had to adapt very quickly,” the Spanish international explains.
‘I have had no preparation at the club. They were new teammates, new standards, new fans.
‘The situation with Aaron was big. He is a great goalkeeper and a great character for the team and the fans. I knew what would happen when I started playing. The noise would just happen.
‘I had to adapt quickly. The turning point was the break we had in Dubai in January. I had time to reconnect and catch my breath from everything that was happening. There have been lows and many highs. I have had to learn from my mistakes and understand what we can all do better.
Raya’s arrival at Arsenal hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing and he admitted he’s experienced some ‘highs and lows’
He also had to compete with Aaron Ramsdale (left) to become Mikel Arteta’s first choice
But he praised his teammate Ramsdale (right) and said the pair have a ‘really good relationship’
‘Aaron and I are teammates. The old thing about goalkeepers is that only one can play. It’s not like you’re a striker and someone else comes in and you can play on the wing.
“It’s strange and it’s been a strange situation, but Aaron has been great since I’ve been here and I like to think I’ve been really good for him too. We have a very good relationship, both on and off the field. We are like a big family and a big group.
‘In the beginning I just wanted to prove myself in one of the biggest clubs in the world. I had the chance to come here. My mind told me that I had to fight for the spot and that if I got it, I would fight to keep it. That’s how I did it. That’s how my mind works.
“I think mental strength is one of my biggest strengths. I rarely break down and I think I showed that this season.”
Born in Barcelona, Raya first came to England at the age of 16 to play for Blackburn. It wasn’t long before he was loaned out to non-League Southport. He attributes that experience, at least in part, to the mental strength he talks about on Sunday.
“When I came as a 16-year-old kid, I left everything behind: family and friends,” he remembers. “Coming to Blackburn at such a young age was such an opportunity that I couldn’t pass it up. My head told me to do it and if it didn’t work I could always go home. But my head also said: “You have to make it, you have to make it”.
Raya had come through Blackburn’s youth system before joining Brentford in July 2019
He added that he would trade his Golden Glove award for a Premier League title without hesitation
‘I knew I had to give the best of myself and here I am now. One of my dreams was to play in the Premier League. By working hard and giving everything in every training and every match, I finally got the opportunity.
“Obviously I moved to Brentford, they got promoted. I also ended up on the national team. And now I play for one of the biggest clubs in the world. But I don’t want to stop here. I want more. I want to win everything with Arsenal and do as much as possible.’
Raya has marked his career milestones with tattoos. Professional debut. International debut. Champions League debut. It would be nice to add a Premier League title win to that as well. Arsenal have not completely given up on this season’s challenge. But they know the odds are against them.
When asked if he would swap the Golden Glove trophy for a Premier League, he answers without pause.
“Oh yes,” he smiles. “Without even thinking.”
