Arsenal made the surprise move to bring in David Raya in the summer transfer window to add competition for Aaron Ramsdale, with the Spaniard set to be given a chance to take the latter’s place.
Gunners boss Arteta pulled off a major surprise in the summer by signing Raya despite already having England international Aaron Ramsdale.
There is now a clear chance for Raya to get his chance to play in the Carabao Cup on September 27 ironically against his parent club.
Ramsdale signed a new contract in May but is clearly very aware of the threat of Raya and also Arteta’s ruthless streak as the Arsenal manager analyses every performance and mistake.
Arteta also has made bold decisions in the past – using William Saliba at centre half last season for example – to make what he sees as marginal but significant gains.
That has left Ramsdale feeling the heat and Raya’s presence will only increase the competition in the Arsenal keeper department.
Arteta has faced criticism over adding the competition, but defended bringing in Raya insisting there is “nothing wrong” with the move.
“To have two excellent goalkeepers is great – there’s nothing wrong with it. We want to be better every single day and to be better the environment has to change and be better,” he said last month.
“We tend to always be at a certain level because it’s in our nature – when you change the environment and the environment is to be 100 per cent every day, believe me, the level is going to increase.
“I’ve seen that close up with my own eyes with the players that we have now, compared to the players we had two years ago. If we want to be better, we have to create that environment. [He brings] better qualities for our game model, it’s very simple.
“We want two players per position that can do that. You need to be prepared because the question will be ‘what is it, two goalkeepers of this size?’ And if Aaron was to sustain a cruciate injury, then what do you say? So, we have to be prepared, we have to be proactive.”
