Why Arsenal are planning to sign a new goalkeeper and what it means for Ramsdale | Chris Wheatley - video Dailymotion

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The Chris Wheatley Show is a brand new weekly series talking all things Arsenal and the Premier League. This week, Chris Wheatley and host Jason Jones reveal the latest on David Raya, Folarin Balogun and Sambi Lokonga.

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00:00 Hello, welcome to another episode of the Chris Wheatley Show, National World's one-stop

00:07 shop to keep you in the know on all things Arsenal. I'm your host, Jason Jones, and I'm

00:11 joined as always by Chris Wheatley. This week, we'll be talking Davide Raia, potential outgoings,

00:16 and as always, we'll be putting your listening questions to Chris as well. So without further

00:20 ado, Chris, always a pleasure on a Monday morning, mate. We're going to start with Davide

00:25 Raia, Arsenal and their apparent interest in the Brentford goalkeeper. It seems to be

00:30 gathering pace, this one. I mean, it's very much come out of left field, hasn't it?

00:35 So yeah, as you said, Jason, it's a bit of a left field one. I think Davide Raia has

00:39 been a long-term target of Mikel Arteta's. He's a player that Mikel Arteta really does

00:45 like. They've also got the common ground with the goalkeeping coach, Inaki Kanya, who was

00:52 actually at Brentford previously. So he knows Davide Raia very well. Obviously, he's a character

00:59 and a leader at Brentford. I think they value him quite highly, but they've accepted that

01:05 he's going to go this summer and I think they want a fairly big transfer fee for him because

01:10 Thomas Frank was saying in pre-season friendly, he did a post-match interview after the Aston

01:16 Villa match. He said Davide Raia is valued at £40 million. Now, that's quite a steep

01:22 fee. I don't think Arsenal will go that high, but there are also reports that Matt Turner,

01:28 Arsenal's number two goalkeeper, is in talks over a move to Nottingham Forest. I think

01:33 Forest are just waiting to hear what the conditions of the deal are before making a move there.

01:39 But it's an interesting one because if Matt Turner does leave, they will almost certainly,

01:44 Arsenal go for Davide Raia. But as I said, that fee is going to be a stumbling block.

01:50 Arsenal won't want to pay £40 million for Davide Raia, but they're going to have to

01:56 pay somewhere near or thereabouts to get him this summer. So it's an interesting one, of

02:02 course, and it does beg the question, what's going to happen to Aaron Ramsdale, Arsenal's

02:07 number one? He made a few mistakes last season, but of course, he's England's number one goalkeeper.

02:13 I think a few people are going to be interested to see if he plays as many games next season

02:18 if Raia does come in, but we'll have to wait and see on that, of course.

02:21 I think that's sort of the key thing, certainly from an outside perspective, at least. We've

02:26 spoken so much on this podcast about the areas that Arsenal actively need to strengthen this

02:30 summer, the need for midfield reinforcements, potentially a full back. Obviously, there's

02:35 been talk about possible centre forward signings and plays of that ilk as well, but it never

02:40 really felt as if the goalkeeper was a priority position. Do you think it's a reflection on

02:46 Ramsdale's performances that they potentially decided to go for Davide Raia, or do you think

02:51 it's more a case that Michel Arteta will believe that now that they are in the Champions League,

02:55 now that they've got this real high-level competition to be sustaining, they need another

02:59 top-level goalkeeper to provide cover and competition for Ramsdale?

03:03 Absolutely. I think it's the latter, to be honest. When you look at Aaron Ramsdale and

03:08 Davide Raia, they're two very different goalkeepers. I think it's fair to say that Raia, his advantage

03:15 is that distribution, his short passing, his long passing as well is very good. I think

03:21 as well, his overall, maybe not, he doesn't make the most spectacular saves, but he's

03:28 a very good shot stopper. I do feel that Arsenal do need two top players for each position.

03:35 Clearly, Davide Raia is one of those top players. He's one of the top goalkeepers in the Premier

03:39 League. I do feel that it's a case of having strength and depth, having top players in

03:46 each position. I do feel like it's going to be an interesting potential move for the club,

03:53 but as I said, they're still going to have to negotiate that fee. I think it's going

03:57 to be quite a hefty fee to get Davide Raia out of Brentford. Clearly, there's willingness

04:03 on all sides to get a deal done and we have to wait and see exactly what happens now.

04:09 From Aaron Ramsdale's perspective, what sort of message do you think this sends to him?

04:14 Do you think that he is the sort of player who will see this as the sort of means to

04:18 spur him on to that next level in his career? Or do you think there is the possibility that

04:22 he might be just a little bit disheartened by Arteta's decision to go and bring in another

04:26 goalkeeper of Raia's ilk?

04:27 I think knowing his character, he's going to be the kind of player who's just going to

04:31 be revved on by this. I think when you're a top level athlete, you want to have competition

04:39 for places. Now, Matt Turner, very good goalkeeper and the US number one goalkeeper. He's won

04:47 a few trophies as well. He just recently won the Gold Cup with his country. So, he's certainly

04:53 a very interesting player for Arsenal. But if they can do a deal there and get him out

04:59 of the door, then it will mean they need another good replacement. So, yeah, I do feel Aaron

05:05 Ramsdale is going to be pushed on by this. I think it's what he needs. I think that's

05:09 what you need in any walk of life. You need some kind of competition to get the best out

05:15 of you. And Aaron Ramsdale, yeah, he didn't have the best of seasons last season, but

05:20 still he is one of the best goalkeepers in the league as well. I think it's a good sign

05:26 really that Arsenal are looking at getting two top class goalkeepers and clearly Raya

05:32 and Ramsdale will be competing with each other if the deal does get done.

05:36 And just a word on Matt Turner as well. I mean, it's sort of testament to, he hasn't

05:41 had a great deal of first team football at Arsenal, but the fact that a club like Nottingham

05:45 Forest, you know, Premier League side who will be looking to establish themselves going

05:49 forward as a sort of Premier League mainstay, the fact that they see something in him to

05:53 potentially bring him in and make him their number one, I mean, it's a really good reflection

05:57 on the sort of quality of player that he is, isn't it?

06:00 Yeah, absolutely. I think you have to commend the ambition of Forest. They've done superbly

06:04 since they got promoted last season and a really ambitious club with an exciting future.

06:10 But I think with Matt Turner, it's a chance to become potentially number one elsewhere.

06:17 And yeah, like I said, he's a very exciting goalkeeper, very talented player. But as I

06:23 said, no deal has been done yet. I think the clubs are still in talks. It will be interesting

06:28 to see what happens, of course. And I think potentially the dominoes could fall and it

06:32 could mean David Raya ending up at Arsenal, but still very early days. And as I said,

06:37 we're going to have to wait and see exactly what happens on those deals.

06:41 I guess Arsenal will just be hoping that they don't end up with another Emi Martinez situation,

06:46 and cut to 2030 and USA lifting the World Cup or something like that, Chris.

06:51 (upbeat music)

06:54 (upbeat music)

Why Arsenal are planning to sign a new goalkeeper and what it means for Ramsdale | Chris Wheatley

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