David Raya grew up in Barcelona and left Spain at 16 to join Blackburn Rovers’ academy in England, an unusual route for a Spanish goalkeeper. He spent six years at Blackburn, including a loan at non-league Southport, and was first choice when the club won promotion from League One in 2018.
Brentford signed him in 2019, and his distribution suited their possession-based style perfectly. He was in goal when Brentford won promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs in 2021.
Arsenal signed him in 2023, first on loan and then permanently, and he displaced Aaron Ramsdale as first choice. Raya won the Premier League Golden Glove in each of his first two seasons at the Emirates. He was part of Spain’s Euro 2024-winning squad.
Playing style
Raya is a modern goalkeeper whose distribution is among the best in the Premier League. He is comfortable receiving the ball under pressure, plays short passes to start attacks and can hit accurate long balls to beat a press. His shot-stopping is also excellent, particularly his reflex saves at close range, and he is quick off his line. At Arsenal his consistency helped the team build one of the best defensive records in Europe, and his two Golden Gloves reflect that.
International career
Raya made his Spain debut in 2022 and was part of the squads at the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024, where Spain won the tournament. He has competed with Unai Simón for the No. 1 position.
Career in numbers
Raya’s senior club career, which began in 2014/15, has so far brought 447 appearances for 4 clubs. His busiest campaign was 2024/25, when he played 55 matches for Arsenal. So far in 2026/27 he has made 7 appearances for Arsenal. The full season-by-season record is in the Stats section of this profile.
