It is testament to David Raya’s rise at Arsenal that a mural of him is splashed on one of the walls near Emirates Stadium.
Produced at the start of this month by the smartly-named artist Northbanksy, it is a tribute to Raya and depicts the goalkeeper with his now famous hands on show.
“Shovels” is how one of Raya’s youth coaches at Blackburn describes them, while broadcaster Paramount+ has nicknamed him ‘El Manotas’ (‘Big Hands’) after his performances this season.
When Raya joined Arsenal on loan in the summer from Brentford, there were plenty of sceptics. Aaron Ramsdale had performed well for the club since arriving in 2021 and was rewarded with a new contract last May.
Arsenal, however, pushed ahead with a move for Raya and the Spaniard has won over his doubters to establish himself as the club’s undisputed No1.
With two games to go, he has already secured the Premier League’s Golden Glove, the award for the most clean sheets, and that is despite him missing six matches this season.
A key decision behind Arsenal signing Raya was his ability to deal with crosses. At 6ft 1in, he is not the tallest top-flight keeper, but he has a phenomenal leap.
The Spaniard has claimed 12.2 per cent of crosses faced this season, a better record than any other keeper in Europe’s top five leagues. Ramsdale’s rate was 5.8 last season.
Raya’s arrival has led to a change in how Arsenal play out from the back. Under Ramsdale, 35.4 per cent of his passes were longer than 40 yards. With Raya, that number is 32.6, while his completion rate has been higher.
When Raya has gone long, he has completed 37.4 per cent of the passes; Ramsdale’s success rate was 25.4. Raya has been helped by the arrival of Kai Havertz, who has acted as a target man.
The Spaniard had a brilliant understanding with Ivan Toney at Brentford, and a similar relationship is blossoming with Havertz.
Many of the differences between Raya and Ramsdale’s statistics are small percentages but, when you are competing with Manchester City, marginal gains are vital.
Something that cannot be measured is personality, and Arsenal have been impressed with the way Raya has responded to errors, such as during last month’s north London derby.
It is why he is expected to join permanently this summer for £27million and, just like his mural, he should become part of the furniture at the Emirates.
