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‘Alarm bells’: ESPN pundit says he’s now really worried about £27m Arsenal player
ESPN pundit Shaka Hislop doesn’t seem too convinced with Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya after watching him play this season.
Mikel Arteta signed the Spain international from Brentford on a season-long loan deal. The Gunners are reportedly obligated to make that move permanent for £27 million at the end of this season (). Raya, however, has divided opinion at Arsenal so far.
ESPN pundit delivers verdict on David Raya at Arsenal
One of the biggest reasons why Arsenal signed David Raya in the summer was because of his excellent distribution.
Aaron Ramsdale is fantastic as well, but the Brentford loanee is arguably better with the ball at his feet than the 25-year-old Arsenal number one.
Hislop, however, is far from convinced with Raya. He has claimed that the Spaniard has made plenty of mistakes already at Arsenal but has gotten away with it because none of those errors led to a goal.
However, he feels he has seen enough for ‘alarm bells’ to start ringing every time Raya is on the ball now.
Hislop said on : “He brings Raya in because of the ability to play the ball out from the back but not once but on a few occasions in the last few games, he has been caught out.
“As it happens, it has not been punished, so it’s okay to take that knock on the chin, whether you’re Arteta or David Raya, but there has been more than enough alarm bells to concern a neutral observer.”
Mikel Arteta wants Raya to play that way
In the first half of Arsenal’s game against Manchester City last weekend, Raya took too long to clear the ball, and Julian Alvarez almost punished him.
There was a sense of nervousness every time Raya got the ball from that point, but Mikel Arteta jumped to his goalkeeper’s defence, claiming that he is the reason why the Brentford loanee plays that way.
“It’s my fault, all my fault,” Arteta told after the game.
“They can pull me up on it because I asked him to do that, especially against this team, you just have to do other things and you’ll get in big trouble.”