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Arsenal are looking to add David Raya to their squad this summer as their summer spending looks set to continue.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal are close to sealing the deal for the Brentford stopper to provide competition for Aaron Ramsdale with Matt Turner set to move to Nottingham Forest.
The Spaniard emerged as a surprise transfer target despite the presence of established Arsenal number one Aaron Ramsdale with the latter proving to be a superb stopper for Mikel Arteta.
However, the arrival of Raya could put the England international under pressure considering the form of the former Blackburn Rovers youth player last season.
Raya was one of the top-performing goalkeepers in the Premier League last season with Arteta likely to be a fan of his ability to use his feet and his distribution.
With a title challenge likely to be the aim once again for Arsenal and the addition of the Champions League, a deeper squad with more quality is essential.
But two top-class stoppers is an interesting prompt from Arteta.
Ramsdale V Raya – who comes out on top?
Interestingly, Raya pips Ramsdale with some of the key stats for goalkeepers in the Premier League last season.
In Ramsdale’s 38 appearances in the league last term, the Gunners stopper kept 14 clean sheets as he helped his side finish challenge for the title.
Despite Brentford finishing seven places below them, Raya kept 12 clean sheets in the same number of games.
In addition, the England international conceded less goals, letting in 42 compared to Raya’s 46, and he also boasts better-passing accuracy, pulling off 63 per cent whilst Raya did so 61 per cent of the time.
He also pips Raya when it comes to clearances, making 34 compared to Raya’s 20.
However, the Brentford keeper has a higher save percentage of 77 per cent compared to Ramsdale’s 69, and has also made 51 catches with Ramsdale making 17 and would’ve faced more shots compared to that of Arsenal.
Most notably, Raya’s number of successful distributions is far higher than Ramsdale’s.
Whilst Raya hasn’t beaten Ramsdale with every single statistic, he has achieved plenty when playing for a side that is batting in a completely different league with personnel, expectation and style.
