Arsenal are seemingly making more moves in the summer transfer window, with Mikel Arteta keen to bolster his squad further with Brentford goalkeeper David Raya.

The Gunners led the way in the Premier League for the majority of the last campaign, only to fall short at the final hurdle and lose out on the title to Manchester City.

But the North London club are determined to avoid a similar fate next season, and have already made plenty of positive steps to boost their chances of success.

Declan Rice has arrived to bolster the midfield, with Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz having been brought in to improve the defence and attack respectively.

One area that has yet to be improved upon is that of goalkeeper, but Arteta has now taken concrete steps to provide competition for number one Aaron Ramsdale.

Deal in principle agreed with Raya

According to the Evening Standard, the Gunners have agreed a contract in principle with Brentford shot-stopper Raya.

The Spaniard is reportedly keen to move to the North London outfit after agreeing a long-term deal, having already told his current club of his desire to complete the transfer this summer.

The Gunners are now ready to hold club-to-club talks regarding a move for Raya, who will not renew his current Bees deal as he wants to leave to join a bigger side.

And a move to Arsenal would certainly achieve that, with the Gunners back in contention for the Premier League title and into the Champions League for the upcoming season.

Who else was interested?

There has been plenty of talk regarding Brentford and Spain ace Raya in recent weeks, with Manchester United having been strongly linked with the 27-year-old earlier in the summer transfer window.

However, their interest ended when they opted to bring in Andre Onana from Inter Milan, with Brentford then benchmarking the value for Raya against the former’s £47.2m move to Old Trafford.

Then came the turn of Arsenal’s fierce North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and German giants Bayern Munich, but both have since walked away from a move for the goalkeeper due to Brentford’s £40million asking price.

The Bees are understandably keen to get as much money as possible for their number one, with Raya’s contract expiring next summer.

They have already prepared for life without the Spaniard, having signed Dutch international Mark Flekken from Freiburg back in May.

Fantastic rise from Raya

Raya has enjoyed a fantastic rise over the years, having played for Southport in the Conference Premier in the 2014/15 campaign during a loan spell from his parent club Blackburn Rovers.

Brentford then took a chance on the Spanish shot-stopper in 2019, with the goalkeeper helping the Bees rise to the Premier League in 2021.

In the top flight, the 27-year-old boasts 20 clean sheets from his 62 appearances, with countless world-class saves helping Brentford to several important points over the last two seasons.

It remains to be seen what his likely switch to Arsenal means for Aaron Ramsdale, another goalkeeper who has enjoyed a rapid rise in recent times.

Now an England international, Ramsdale was relegated from the Premier League with both Sheffield United and Bournemouth before his transfer to the Gunners.