Arsenal are looking at multiple positions in the summer transfer window, but one of the lesser-thought-of roles is the backup goalkeeper. This season, with David Raya playing all but three of the matches, there have been three other stoppers given opportunities.
Jack Porter faced Bolton in the Carabao Cup, Tommy Setford played against Preston North End in the same competition but it was on-loan experienced keeper Neto who was the predominant second-choice keeper and played against Girona in the Champions League. The Brazilian will return to Bournemouth at the end of the season, leaving the Gunners without a senior figure in the second spot.
Like the Cherries, Arsenal too will have a keeper return to the club from a loan spell away. Karl Hein signed a new contract at the club before leaving to play for Real Valladolid in La Liga.
The Estonian No.1 has been at the club for many years, coming through the youth sides and even featuring a lot in pre-season, with penalty shootout heroics becoming a character trait of his. However, it has been a long, difficult season playing for the bottom side in the division.
He managed to keep five clean sheets during the season in 29 matches, with a 60.1% save percentage, making 90 saves from 153 shots on target faced. Raya, meanwhile, has a 75.3% save percentage, but only faced 113 shots on target.
What Raya has excelled at is his command of the box, stopping 12% of crosses, ranking him in the 98th percentile of goalkeepers in Europe's top five leagues. Hein managed to stop 7.3% of crosses, ranking him in the 71st percentile.
When compared to Aaron Ramsdale, though, who plays for the Premier League's bottom club, the Englishman stopped 5.6% of crosses and had a slightly better save percentage of 67.8% from 177 shots. Hein could save Arsenal some money as they are keen on the £20million-rated Joan Garcia.
However, were Raya to get injured, the 90th percentile for percentage of crosses stopped (9.6%) keeper with a 76.2% save percentage playing for Espanyol would be better insurance than Hein. The problem now, however, is that plenty of clubs see Garcia as a potential starter, which may attract him more than competing with Raya; in which case, the door could open for Hein.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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