This deal has taken many by surprise as the Gunners don’t exactly need a goalkeeper, and heading into the final year of his contract, hardly anyone expected Raya to leave Brentford on loan.
However, Raya is now set to depart on a temporary basis while signing a new contract with the Bees, with a view to making this Arsenal move permanent at a later date.
People within Arsenal are very excited about this deal, so much so that according to Kaya Kaynak, speaking on his YouTube channel, they’re comparing to to the Martin Odegaard transfer – an initial loan that allowed Arsenal to gauge the player’s ability before making the deal permanent.
Brentford FC v Leicester City - Premier League
Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images
Similar to Odegaard
Kaynak shared what he’s been hearing from within Arsenal about Raya.
“Smart business from Arsenal in that they’re trying to do a try before they buy sort of thing. I’ve spoken to a few people at the club who say this is very similar to Martin Odegaard, this is very similar to when they brought Odegaard in expecting to buy-him in the long-run. With Raya it is different in that if Odegaard wasn’t playing his best they could just drop him and play Smith Rowe or someone else, but with Raya it’s 90 minutes or bust,” Kaynak said.
Manchester City v Arsenal - The FA Community Shield
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Smart
In all honesty, this is a very smart deal.
When the initial Raya links broke, many suggested that Arsenal didn’t actually need the Spaniard and that he wouldn’t be an upgrade on Aaron Ramsdale.
Now Arsenal have the chance to weigh up the merits of that argument over a full season before deciding whether they want to splash the cash to actually sign Raya.
Say what you will about Arsenal, but they’re proving to be smart operators in the transfer market lately.
0 Comments