Sport nationRespected transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has lifted the lid on a 28-year-old who is really impressing Mikel Arteta’s coaching staff at Arsenal.
The Gunners have undergone a very solid start to this new Premier League season; remaining unbeaten over their opening five matches with four wins and a draw. Narrow one-goal margin victories over Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Everton showcased Arsenal’s ability to grind out results despite perhaps not playing at their imperious, attacking best.
They also fought right to very end during a 3-1 win over Man United just prior to the international break, with very late goals from Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus handed them all three points at the Emirates Stadium. Only Fulham have come away with a point against Arsenal this term, courtesy of a last-gasp strike from their star midfielder Joao Palhinha.
Next up, the north Londoners gear up for a highly-anticipated clash against Tottenham on Sunday. Both sides are heading into the derby on a brilliant run, and it will be very interesting to see if either team can end the other’s unbeaten start.
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Ahead of the encounter, Arteta heaped praise on Ange Postecoglou’s impact at Spurs.
“I really like him,” explained the Spaniard.
“I had players and I know players that had him and they always speak really, really highly of him. That’s not a coincidence. You can tell straight away he’s fitting in the right way. That’s the beauty of this league that we have top, top managers.”
One hot topic at Arsenal going into the match is Arteta’s goalkeeping situation, as the manager caused a stir last weekend when he dropped long-reigning number one Aaron Ramsdale in favour of summer signing David Raya. The latter player retained his place for their midweek Champions League win over PSV Eindhoven, so supporters will be eager to see who Arteta favours for one of Arsenal’s biggest games of the season this weekend.
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Pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor called the rotation of Arsenal’s keepers a “dangerous” call by Arteta, explaining that the former Man City assistant runs the risk of both players not quite being up to speed on a regular basis. It could be argued that Ramsdale didn’t do much wrong prior to Arsenal’s win over Everton, where he was first relegated to the bench, but a small line by Romano has perhaps explained why Raya has come in.
According to the renowned reporter, Arsenal’s summer capture from Brentford has really “impressed” Arteta’s coaching staff behind-the-scenes Indeed, the 28-year-old is apparently wowing since his loan move from the Gtech Community Stadium in mid-August.
Romano doesn’t offer much more information beyond that, at least on X where he made the statement, but this is perhaps one of the reasons Arteta is now favouring Raya.
How good is David Raya?
The shot-stopper was one of Brentford’s key players last season. Indeed, the former Blackburn Rovers star stood out as one of their best-performers per 90 according to WhoScored – all while playing every single league game.
Thomas Frank has also heaped praise on Raya in recent season, saying this in early 2022:
“His clear and obvious abilities in terms of playing with his feet, high position, very aggressive in terms of his positioning and going for crosses.”
Emilio is an experienced football content writer and journalist with nearly four years under his belt at Snack Media.
After graduating with first class honours from the University of Central Lancashire in 2019, it didn’t take long for Emilio to clinch his first job in journalism – here at Snack.
Emilio has written for a host of the company’s biggest past and current football news websites – Vital Football, The Transfer Tavern and FootballFanCast.
Having worked through the COVID lockdown, Spurs’ infamous 2021 manager search and a succession of transfer windows – Emilio is well versed in the fast-paced and ever-changing news landscape of the beautiful game.
He has now taken up the role of Assistant Editor, Football Brands, where he is tasked with helping to oversee the development of FFC.
A massive Manchester City supporter in his spare time, Emilio also has a passion for travelling the world.
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