Arsenal have now reached an agreement with Brentford for the signing of goalkeeper David Raya. He’s set to move across London for a fee in the region of £30m. Below, we’ll take a look at David Raya’s Arsenal contract and how much he’s likely to earn at the Emirates.
The deal will see Raya earn a huge pay rise. Having initially joined Brentford from Blackburn in 2019, the Spanish shot stopper has only signed one contract extension since then and that was in October 2020 when the Bees were still a Championship club.
Unquestionably, Brentford would have preferred it had Raya simply agreed a new deal to stay which would also have no doubt seen Raya net a significant salary increase. However the 27 year old had increasingly made it clear that he saw his future elsewhere and his employers were clearly unwilling to allow Raya to simply see out his contract which would have expired next summer.
How much will David Raya earn at Arsenal?
BREAKING: Arsenal have reached an agreement to sign David Raya, here we go! Deal agreed with Brentford after personal terms last week 🚨🔴⚪️
Documents being prepared between the clubs, medical to be booked this week.
Raya only wanted #AFC move. pic.twitter.com/s3HOeogH3y
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 8, 2023
As is often the way with transfers these days, personal terms were agreed before the two clubs reached an agreement on the fee. Raya had been attracting interest from other clubs in England and overseas, but is believed to have always favoured a move to the Emirates.
The switch will enable him to stay in London and Raya will also have the opportunity to showcase his skills on the European stage for the first time with Mikel Arteta’s men in the Champions League this term. He will now work with former Brentford goalkeeping coach Iñaki Caña with Aaron Ramsdale his main competition for the starting role.
The full details of David Raya’s Arsenal salary are not yet known but the goalkeeper was believed to be earning £25,000 per week at Brentford, £1.3m per year. That’s a very low figure for an established Premier League starter of his calibre and is a reflection on Raya, unlike many of his teammates, not signing a fresh deal since Brentford won promotion.
It’s safe to say that Raya will earn considerably more than that at Arsenal. Ramsdale recently doubled his Arsenal salary to around £120,000 per week making him one of the highest earning Premier League goalkeepers. His new rival for the starting role at the Emirates Stadium may not earn quite that much, but it won't be too far off with Raya expected to provide very strong competition from the outset.
How long is David Raya’s Arsenal contract?
David Raya is set to commit the best years of his career to Arsenal. The deal is believed to be a five-year contract which will end in June 2028 when Raya will be 32. It’s a reward for the goalkeeper’s impressive form over the past two seasons.
Raya has certainly been a major factor in Brentford’s ability to take so easily to life in the Premier League with the Bees already feeling like an established club in the middle part of the English top flight. The Spaniard has already made 62 Premier League appearances having started every single Brentford league game for which he was available since the club’s promotion two years ago.
He’s viewed as a good all-round goalkeeper with strong shot stopping abilities while also being very capable with the ball at his feet, playing out from the back. It was perhaps inevitable that Raya would ultimately move on to one of the bigger European clubs given his upward trajectory in recent years and he has certainly come a long way having initially moved to England for just £10,000 to join Blackburn's academy as a 15 year old in 2012.
With Aaron Ramsdale’s deal running until 2026 with the option for a further year, Arsenal now look set in the goalkeeping department for the foreseeable future. The challenge for Arteta will be to keep both men happy which may be difficult should either Ramsdale or Raya emerge as the clear first choice with neither man likely to be content with spending long periods on the bench.
