David Raya

David Raya Martín (born 15 September 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Arsenal and the Spain national team.

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Raya began his career in his native Spain and combined goalkeeping with playing as an outfield player in futsal.

[8][2] Two years earlier, the transfer of Hugo Fernández to Ewood Park had led to an agreement between the two clubs for Cornellà players to join Blackburn Rovers for trials.

[9] Raya gained his first senior experience with a four-month spell on loan at Conference Premier club Southport during the first half of the 2014–15 season and made 24 appearances.

[11][12] Despite making just 13 appearances during the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons,[13][14] Raya was Rovers' second-choice goalkeeper behind Jason Steele and was a frequent member of the matchday squad.

[20] On 6 July 2019, Raya signed for Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee,[10] reported to be in the region of £3 million.

[22][23] Raya made 49 appearances during a season which ended with a 2–1 2020 Championship play-off final defeat to West London rivals Fulham.

[24][25] Injury and transfer speculation led to Raya being left out of head coach Thomas Frank's matchday squads during the 2020–21 pre-season and early in the regular season.

[32] Raya finished the 2020–21 season with 48 appearances, 17 clean sheets and a promotion medal,[30] earned with a 2–0 2021 Championship play-off final victory over Swansea City.

[7] Raya began the 2021–22 season as a starter in Premier League matches,[34] before suffering a posterior cruciate ligament injury during a 2–1 defeat to Leicester City on 24 October 2021.

[36] After a behind closed doors friendly appearance on 1 February 2022,[37] Raya made his return to competitive match play with a start in a 4–1 FA Cup fourth round defeat to Everton four days later.

As part of the deal, Raya signed a two-year contract extension with Brentford, which also includes a club option for an additional 12 months.

[48] Raya would later make his Arsenal home and Champions League debut against PSV Eindhoven on 20 September, keeping a clean sheet as the Gunners ran out 4–0 winners.

[52] On 20 April, Raya kept a sixth consecutive away clean sheet in the Premier League, becoming the second goalkeeper in the competition's history to achieve this feat, after Edwin van der Sar did so in 2008–2009.

[54] Raya became the third Arsenal goalkeeper to claim the award after Wojciech Szczęsny and Petr Čech, and the third Spaniard to win the accolade after Pepe Reina and David de Gea.

[62][63] In his post-match interview, Raya credited Arsenal's goalkeeping coach Iñaki Caña for the role he played in his double save against Atalanta.

[15][71] Raya was named in Spain's 2022 World Cup squad,[70] but prior to the team's exit in the round of 16,[72] his only match play during the period came with a second half substitute appearance in a pre-tournament friendly versus Jordan.