David Raya sits on a stool in his Arsenal training top. Over his right shoulder is the Golden Glove trophy, awarded to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in each Premier League season. That one belongs to the Spaniard this year.
In terms of the trophy he and everybody else at Arsenal really wants to win, that one may have to wait another season. Raya thinks the title will come, though. He is sure it will come.
‘You cannot stop,’ says Raya, who has kept 16 clean sheets in the Premier League this season.
‘You have to carry on going and going until you are through that wall. Just hitting and hitting until you crack it. That’s the only way to success and I think this club is going the right way with the right mentality and the right people and the right players. To go through that wall and just crack it through.’
Raya’s metaphor is a good one and with that in mind, it is hard not to imagine the faces of Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City team of champions-elect painted on the bricks in his imagination.
David Raya has enjoyed 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 adamant that the title will come in the future
On Sunday at the Emirates, Arsenal face Everton in the final game of their season. If they win, it will be victory No 16 from their last 18 Premier League games. But a total of 49 points from 54 will not quite be enough if City beat West Ham to finish their own season with 10 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,’ explains Raya. ‘You can see how the club and the team has developed. It’s incredible. Arsenal had a fantastic campaign last season. We are having a fantastic season this season. It’s progress. The numbers are there.
‘But the thing is we’re 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 Premier League not long ago. We are in competition against the best but the progress from this club means we are getting better and better and it gives us confidence for next season.’
Raya is talking on a bright spring day in an executive lounge at Arsenal’s wonderful stadium. To his left, through the glass, we look down on the vast expanse of green.
Raya has made this place feel like home over the last nine months. It’s been a struggle at times. Proving himself a worthy successor to last year’s No1 Aaron Ramsdale was difficult early on and even if he has shown himself worthy over time there is one final box left to tick, one important piece of paper yet to sign.
Raya, 28, is still on loan from his parent club Brentford. Technically, Sunday’s game could be his last for manager Mikel Arteta’s team. He hopes not.
The Gunners go into the final day of the season two points behind Man City in the table
Raya insists Arsenal are ‘making progress,’ adding they will take a lot of confidence into next season
Raya hopes Sunday’s crunch game against Everton at the Emirates is not his last for the club
‘It’s not up to me, the contract,’ Raya smiles. ‘It’s up to the club and to Mikel. If my performances have been good enough then hopefully they will offer me a long-term contract.
‘I am just focused on the present. I don’t want to think too much about the future. I just want to focus on training and the game. Of course, I would love to be here next season and, if that’s the case, it would be amazing, 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 will not be a full part of the fixtures and fittings by the time August rolls around. Equally, Ramsdale — an England international — may have to move on.
That’s hard but that’s also a goalkeeper’s life. The two men are friends and Raya insisted that Ramsdale be part of the photograph taken to commemorate his Golden Glove award this week.
Nevertheless, the early part of Raya’s time at Arsenal was not straightforward.
‘I had to adapt very quickly,’ explains the Spain international.
‘I didn’t have a pre-season with the club. It was new team-mates, new standards, new fans.
‘The situation with Aaron was a big one. He is a great goalie and a great character for the team and for the fans. I knew what was going to happen if I started playing. The noise was only going to happen.
‘I had to adapt quickly. The turning point was the break we had in Dubai in January. I had the time to reconnect and take a breather from everything that was happening. There have been lows and a lot of highs. I have had to learn from my mistakes and understand what we can all do better.
Raya’s arrival at Arsenal was less than straight forward and he admitted he went through some ‘highs and lows’
He also had to compete with Aaron Ramsdale (left) to become Mikel Arteta’s first choice
But he lauded his team-mate Ramsdale (right) stating the pair have a ‘really good relationship’
‘Aaron and I are team-mates. The old thing about goalkeepers is that only one can play. It’s not like if you are a striker and another comes in and you can play on the wing.
‘It’s a strange thing and it’s been a strange situation but Aaron has been top since I arrived and I like to think I have been really good to him as well. We have a really good relationship on and off the pitch. We are like a big family and a big group.
‘At the start I just wanted to prove myself in one of the biggest clubs in the world. I had the opportunity to come here. My head was telling me that I was going to have to fight for the spot and then, if I got it, I would fight to keep it. That’s how I did it. That’s the way my head works.
‘I think mental strength is one of my biggest strengths. I rarely break down and I think I have shown that during the season.’
Raya, born in Barcelona, first came to England at 16 to play for Blackburn. Before long he was sent out on loan at non-League Southport. He credits that experience, at least in part, with the mental strength he talks about Sunday.
‘Coming as a 16-year-old kid, I left everything behind — family and friends,’ he recalls. ‘To come to Blackburn at such a young age was such an opportunity that I couldn’t let it pass. My head was telling me to do it and, if it didn’t work, I could always go back home. But my head was also telling me: “You have to make it, you have to make it”.
Raya had risen through Blackburn’s youth system before joining Brentford in July 2019
He added that he would swap his Golden Glove award for a Premier League title without hesitation
‘I knew I had to give the best of me and here I am right now. One of my dreams was to play in the Premier League. Through working hard and giving my all in every training session and every game, I got the opportunity in the end.
‘Obviously I moved to Brentford, they got promoted. I got in the national team as well. And now I am playing 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 place a Premier League title win on there, too. Arsenal have not given up on this season’s challenge quite yet. But they know the odds are against them.
When he is asked if he would swap the Golden Glove trophy for a Premier League, he replies without pause.
‘Oh yeah,’ he smiles. ‘Without even thinking.’
