Arteta reveals he tried to sign Arsenal star two years before he eventually joined | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta revealed that he wanted to sign goalkeeper David Raya two years before Arsenal brought him in.

Raya has enjoyed another fantastic season for the Gunners, winning the Golden Glove award by keeping 18 clean sheets in the Premier League so far this campaign.

Arsenal’s decision to sign Raya in 2023 was seen as a controversial one, given the form of former number one Aaron Ramsdale, but Raya has more than vindicated Arteta’s decision.

“I think, first of all, on the decision, and when you are convinced about something, and it wasn’t just me, it was Iñaki as well, the goalkeeping coach, it was Edu at the time, the sporting director, to support the idea when we give them all the elements, to understand that the club has to support it, and then a player with that tremendous personality to fulfil the role that was demanded at that time when it was very, very difficult,” Arteta explained.

“And then obviously the quality that he has, but the willingness that he has every single day to learn and to work.

“I mean, his work ethic, his mentality, his approach to every training session, it’s outstanding, it’s phenomenal, and when you have that, when you have a goalkeeping coach that is as demanding or more than him as well, and you have obviously a team, a function, individually and collectively to perform at the level that they can do, then it’s a good mixture. 

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“But what David has done for us in the last few years, I think it’s incredible.

“It’s incredible. His journey, it is incredible. The way he has matured, the way he had to earn things.”

Arteta also revealed that Raya was a player he had an eye on for some time before eventually signing him.

“Yeah, two years before, especially when Emi (Martinez) left,” he said. “That was the idea, to bring him in that moment. We let Emi go, and then we couldn’t do it.”

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