David Raya decides stance on Arsenal transfer as Gunners eye surprise £40m deal

Arsenal could now be the frontrunners to sign David Raya as the Brentford goalkeeper would reportedly prefer to move to the Gunners rather than Bayern Munich. Raya looks set to call time on his career in west London a year before his contract at the Gtech Community Stadium comes to an end.

Raya, who is valued by Brentford at £40million, has been a revelation for his current employers since joining the club from Blackburn in 2019. The 27-year-old helped the Bees win promotion from the Championship via the play-offs in 2021 and has gone on to keep 20 clean sheets in 62 Premier League appearances. But the star is reluctant to stick around at Brentford for longer than he has to, with some of the biggest clubs in Europe chasing his signature.

Bayern are said to be keen to take the player to Germany to replace second-choice shot-stopper Yann Sommer, who is in talks to join Inter Milan. But the Bundesliga giants now have competition from Arsenal, who are reportedly exploring a move for the Spaniard.

According to CBS Sports, if Bayern and Arsenal were both to agree a deal with Brentford, Raya would opt to move to the Emirates Stadium. But the goalkeeper is still assessing his options and could change his mind based on the pitches from both clubs.

In June, Raya spoke to The Times about his desire to move on as he said: “I know there are rumours about me leaving. There are some options for me to go but obviously Brentford are asking for a lot of money. That could make clubs not want to buy me, it could make them look somewhere else.

“I have ambitions to make the next step in my career. I want to try to win titles and to compete in Europe in the next couple of years. I’m 27 now and I feel like I’m at the point in my career when I want to make that step up. There are options out there but it’s not just my ambitions, the club also needs to let me go.”

Raya hasn’t started any of Brentford’s pre-season friendlies and was left out of the Bees squad altogether for their clash with Aston Villa on Sunday. And Brentford manager Thomas Frank admitted on Saturday that his club’s willingness to offload the keeper was an “open secret.”

The German continued: “I think it’s natural that he would like to leave if it’s a good opportunity for him. We all think it’s a good idea at the right price.”

And on Sunday, Frank added: “We are willing to sell – David would like to go. It’s fine for us. [If] a club want to buy [him], they just need to find out the price. I guess it should be simple, but apparently it’s very difficult.”