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)
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