Jamie Carragher praises Arsenal for making ‘brave’ transfer decision | Football

Jamie Carragher has applauded Arsenal’s ‘brave’ decision to find an upgrade on Aaron Ramsdale given the club now boast the ‘best goalkeeper in the Premier League’ in David Raya.

Raya is one of only six players to have played every single minute for their club in the English top flight this term, starting all 36 matches and producing a string of outstanding performances to help ensure Arsenal have remained a defensive force..

On Sunday, Raya once again underlined his vital importance to Arsenal with a crucial save to deny Mateus Fernandes as Mikel Arteta’s side edged out West Ham to restore their five-point lead at the summit and keep hopes of a historic double alive.

It’s easy to forget that eyebrows were raised when the Gunners first signed Raya – initially on loan from Brentford – in 2023, with Ramsdale the established number one having joined in a £30million deal just two years earlier.

However, the 30-year-old Spaniard has gone on to silence those initial doubters and is now widely to be among the most complete goalkeepers and finest shot-stoppers in European football.

After an excellent debut season at the Emirates, Raya was named in the PFA Team of the Year while also picking up the Golden Glove, despite Arteta’s men finishing second behind Manchester City.

Raya got his hands on the Golden Glove award for a second time last season – sharing the award with Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels – as the north Londoners again finished runners-up.

With 18 clean sheets to his name this time around, Raya looks on course to scoop the prize for a third straight season, with his nearest rival, Gianluigi Donnarumma accumulating only 14 clean sheets with three games remaining of City’s campaign.

‘When you talk about magic moments, this is certainly one of the most needed moments as well to pull off with that save,’ Arteta said of Raya’s latest heroics at the London Stadium.

‘He was incredible.’

Analysing the central role Raya has played for Arsenal both domestically and in Europe on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football programme, Carragher said there could be no doubting that Arteta now had the league’s best goalkeeper at his disposal.

‘It’s not just this season, it’s the call to bring him in. It wasn’t universally popular when the change was made,’ the ex-Liverpool and England defender stated ahead of Tottenham’s clash with Leeds.

‘I was probably quite adamant at the time that I felt Arsenal needed to move on from Aaron Ramsdale. He was a good Premier League goalkeeper and I just didn’t think they could win the Premier League with him in goal.

‘Now it remains to be seen if Raya is that guy but it was a brave decision.

‘The former goalkeeping coach [Inaki Cana] of David Raya at Brentford moved to Arsenal and probably gave a bit of an insight into what kind of goalkeeper he was, but he’s been a revelation.

‘A couple of months ago on Monday Night Football we made a play about which goalkeeper would you want to go on and win the league: Gianluigi Donnarumma or David Raya? And he’s certainly won that battle.

‘He’s the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and definitely one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He could certainly have that mantle.’

While conceding that many Arsenal fans may still be fearing another slip-up, Carragher is confident it is only a matter of time before Raya and Co are crowned English champions.

‘I said before the weekend that it felt like the biggest game of the season because it affected four teams: the two teams involved, plus Spurs and Manchester City as well,’ he said.

‘There was big controversy at the end which could have gone either way I suppose.

‘I said last week that if Arsenal win at West Ham, they win the league so I think they’ve got a great chance.

‘I still believe that anybody with anything to do with Arsenal, be it a player or a fan, won’t believe that because that’s the nature of the game and you always think the worst is around the corner.

‘But they’ve got a really favourable fixture coming next, Burnley at home, and then a game away at Crystal Palace which obviously isn’t easy but if you’re picking a fixture away from home, considering the European commitments they’ve got…’

Asked if he was confident in backing Arsenal to win a first title in 22 years, Carragher replied: ‘Yeah, I’m staying with that prediction, I think they’ll win the league now.

‘They’ve just got over that little wobble they had and since then they’ve been really impressive.

‘Not always in terms of performance, but they haven’t looked nervous, they haven’t looked edgy.

‘There was probably a spell of four of five games where it looked like they were coming off track, but it looks like they’re back on it now.’

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