Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya should now have considerable clout at the Emirates after establishing himself as Mikel Arteta’s number one.
David Raya arrived at Arsenal from Brentford in 2023 in slightly controversial circumstances.
From the outside looking in, many fans and pundits couldn’t understand why Mikel Arteta was replacing Aaron Ramsdale and causing unnecessary chaos in north London.
However, Arteta’s faith in Raya has paid dividends, and the Spaniard has foregone Ramsdale’s contributions at Arsenal, even if the England international was so adored by fans in N5.
That being said, Raya should now repay Arteta’s faith by giving him a little bit of advice in the transfer market.
David Raya should be pushing Arsenal to sign Bryan Mbeumo
With the idea of improving their attack this summer, Arsenal are interested in Bryan Mbeumo at Brentford.
Bryan Mbeumo scored 20 Premier League goals last season, more than double the amount of any Arsenal player.
And whilst the 25-year-old predominantly thrives in a similar role to Bukayo Saka on the right, he is still definitely someone who sporting director Andrea Berta should be targeting.
In fact, Raya himself should be telling Arsenal to go all out to sign Mbeumo, a player who he’s previously seen every day in training.
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
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Raya played 152 games alongside Mbeumo at Brentford, meaning he’d be a brilliant point of reference for Arteta or Arsenal’s recruitment team.
Mbeumo’s data has impressed Arsenal — he’s prevailed as one of the outstanding players in Europe on a lot of metrics.
But Raya would be able to add some qualitative data to take things one step further.
Bryan Mbeumo can thrive alongside Bukayo Saka
As mentioned, Mbeumo does thrive in a very similar role to Saka, and perhaps even Ethan Nwaneri to a degree.
But the Cameroon international is able to play as a central striker too, meaning he could dovetail with Kai Havertz.
In addition, some Arsenal fans actually want to see either Saka or Nwaneri tried in a number ten role in the future, which might be part of Arteta’s long-term plan.
And therefore Mbeumo could be the perfect player to supplement those ideas.
The Brentford winger would be a luxury signing for Arsenal somewhat, but Arteta’s side should now be in the position to make those kinds of signings, the last pieces of the puzzle.
Arsenal are close to signing Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad right now, and this summer should be one littered with ambition.