'I don't mind admitting': Pundit admits he was wrong about Arsenal's 'brilliant' £27m signing
Today at 12:15 PM
It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong, and the success of many Mikel Arteta-era Arsenal signings has many a pundit sizing themselves up.
Ally McCoist was not alone in expressing his surprise when Arsenal completed a signing which raised plenty of eyebrows and sparked numerous debates in the summer of 2023.
It is easy to forget, considering what has happened since, that Aaron Ramsdale was largely excellent as Arsenal threatened to break Manchester City’s Premier League stranglehold the season before last.
Yes, there were a few high profile mistakes during the run-in. Those damaging clashes with Southampton and City come to mind.
But the consensus held by many, when Arsenal snapped up David Raya from Brentford, was that the Spaniard was a little superfluous at the Emirates Stadium.
Ally McCoist admits he was wrong about Arsenal’s David Raya
14 months after Raya arrived initially on loan – The Gunners would then complete a permanent £27 million deal the following summer – the one-time Blackburn Rovers stopper can now conceivably lay claim to have blossomed into the finest goalkeeper on the continent.
If not the finest, then surely the most well-rounded; Raya’s elite reactions and Pirlo-esque distribution hitting an all-new level in the opening weeks of the current campaign.
“The goalkeeper, I’ve got to say…” McCoist tells talkSPORT. “I don’t mind admitting it, when he first came, I’m thinking; ‘Do you really need that?
“‘Will you give yourself a problem with Ramsdale?'”
Winning the Premier League’s Golden Glove in his debut season, Raya quickly relegated Ramsdale to the bench. And with the Englishman accepting that he had lost the war, Ramsdale secured an £18 million deadline day move to Southampton.
With Russell Martin’s side struggling badly – Bournemouth carving through them at will on Monday – Ramsdale has now conceded 10 goals in just four Southampton outings.
That is twice as many as Raya has let in all season.
Raya kept another clean sheet as Arsenal defeated Luis Enrique’s PSG in the Champions League this week, having already pulled off a Save of the Season contender to deny Mateo Retegui the rebound from his initial penalty on matchday one at Atalanta.
“The one when gets back up from the penalty and saves the header at Atalanta, brilliant. Brilliant,” McCoist adds.
“I think with the goalkeeper and the two centre-backs, I think they might have the best back four in Europe. The full-backs are solid as well.”
Peter Schmiechel says Raya not yet the Premier League’s best
As far as Peter Schmeichel is concerned, Raya still has to overtake Manchester City’s Ederson if he is to establish himself as the Premier League’s premiere glovesman. But he is certainly heading in the right direction with both Arsenal and Raya closing the gap.
"Ederson is the best keeper in the Premier League," says Schmeichel, arguably the finest to ever stand between the sticks in England’s top flight.
"David Raya is coming close now too. He has really impressed me. Once he got established as Arsenal's number one and that competition situation got out of the way and Aaron Ramsdale left, there was a different aura around him.
"He's played well and has kept his team in a few games. He's made some important saves. He has also eradicated all those mistakes that he made from having to be a good footballer.
"Against Tottenham, he passed the ball straight out to [Cristian] Romero. All those mistakes, I haven't seen this season."
