Former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit, Gary Neville is the latest popular figure to criticize Mikel Arteta’s decision to sign goalkeeper David Raya for the club.
After Aaron Ramsdale had a strong season in the previous campaign, Arteta and Arsenal took the unexpected option to sign Raya on a loan-to-buy deal this summer.
Ramsdale was given a new contract since he was one of the Gunners’ most reliable players in the previous campaign.
Nevertheless, Arteta has taken action to increase competition for the shot-stopping spot despite that apparent vote of confidence.
This season, Raya, a starting goalkeeper, will be looking for playing time. This could create issues within the squad because Arteta would now have to let one of Raya or Ramsdale down.
Ramsdale has started the season so far, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be issues later on.
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In his interview with Football Insider as reported by London World, Alan Hutton brought this up, saying: “If you are Ramsdale at this moment in time having just signed a new deal. And the club bring in a new goalkeeper who is going to be number one, how does he feel? Terrible, I imagine.”
Neville made similar comments: “I’m not a fan of competition for goalkeepers. I think you need a clear No.1 and then a clear No.2.”
Raya has signed a loan agreement worth £3 million with Arsenal, who also have the option to purchase him for £27 million, bringing the potential value of the transaction to £30 million.
