David Raya Martín (; born 15 September 1995) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for club Arsenal, on loan from Brentford, and the Spain national team. Raya began his senior career in England with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. He made his professional breakthrough as part of the team that was promoted from

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

in 2018. Raya transferred to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club Brentford in 2019 and was a part of the team that was promoted to the Premier League in 2021. He made his international debut for Spain in 2022.

Club career

Blackburn Rovers

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, Raya began his career in his native Spain and combined

goalkeeping In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

with playing as an

outfield player Association football (more commonly known as football) was first codified in 1863 in England, although games that involved the kicking of a ball were evident considerably earlier.

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

. He later played youth football for

UE Cornellà Unión Esportiva Cornellà, S. A. D. ( ca, Unió Esportiva Cornellà) is a Spanish football team based in Cornellà de Llobregat, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1951 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding ...

, before moving to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to join

on a scholarship in July 2012. Two years earlier, the transfer of Hugo Fernández to Ewood Park had led to an agreement between the two clubs for UE Cornellà players to join Blackburn Rovers for trials. He progressed through the club's

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

and signed a professional contract on 26 February 2014. Raya gained his first senior experience with a four-month spell on

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club

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during the first half of the 2014–15 season and made 24 appearances. After his return to Ewood Park, he made two late-season

appearances and signed a new three-year contract in April 2015. Despite making just 13 appearances during the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons, Raya was Rovers' second-choice goalkeeper behind Jason Steele and was a frequent member of the matchday squad. Rovers' relegation to

at the end of the 2016–17 season saw Raya take over as the club's first-choice goalkeeper. He made 47 appearances during the 2017–18 season and helped the club to automatic promotion straight back to the Championship. He retained in his place during 2018–19 and made 46 appearances during a season of consolidation in the Championship. Raya departed Rovers in July 2019, after making 108 appearances for the club.

Brentford

On 6 July 2019, Raya signed for Championship club Brentford on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in the region of £3 million. Raya's performances during the first half of the 2019–20 season earned him a nomination for Goalkeeper of the Year at the 2020 London Football Awards and his 16

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in league matches during the season saw him share the EFL Golden Glove award with

Bartosz Białkowski Bartosz Marek Białkowski (; born 6 July 1987) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Millwall. He began his career playing in his native Poland, before moving to Southampton in 2006. After six years at Southampton, h ...

. Raya made 49 appearances during a season which ended with a 2–1 2020 Championship play-off final defeat to West London rivals Fulham. Injury and transfer speculation led to Raya being left out of head coach

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's matchday squads during the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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and early in the regular season. After being reintegrated with two EFL Cup appearances and captaining the team in both matches, he signed a new four-year contract on 2 October 2020. Raya finished the 2020–21 season with 48 appearances, 17 clean sheets and a promotion medal, earned with a 2–0 2021 Championship play-off final victory over Swansea City. In his growing role as a sweeper-keeper, Raya attempted 300 more passes than any other Championship goalkeeper during the season. Raya began the 2021–22 season as an ever-present in

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

matches, before suffering a

posterior cruciate ligament injury The function of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is to prevent the femur from sliding off the anterior edge of the tibia and to prevent the tibia from displacing posterior to the femur. Common causes of PCL injuries are direct blows to the fle ...

during a 2–1 defeat to

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on 24 October 2021. He returned to outdoor training on 10 January 2022. After a behind closed doors friendly appearance on 1 February 2022, Raya made his return to competitive match play with a start in a 4–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fourth round defeat to Everton four days later. He was an ever-present until the end of the campaign and finished a mid-table season with 25 appearances. Raya continued as an ever-present in league matches during the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season and his performances during an unbeaten January 2023 (during which Brentford challenged the European places) saw him nominated for the

Premier League Player of the Month The Premier League Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League player each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to 10 ...

award. That same month, Raya rejected a second offer of a new contract. He was a member of the club's leadership group during a 2022–23 season in which he was an ever-present in league matches.

Arsenal (loan)

On 15 August 2023, Raya completed a season-long loan move to Arsenal. Arsenal paid £3 million to complete the loan deal, which has a purchase option of £27 million. As part of the deal, Raya signed a two-year contact extension with Brentford, which also includes a club option for an additional 12 months.

International career

After failing to receive a call-up by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at youth level, Raya won his maiden international call-up to the senior team for a pair of friendlies in March 2022. He made his debut with a start in a 2–1 win over

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

on 26 March and remained an unused substitute in the second match. Raya was an unused substitute during the entirety of Spain's victorious

2022–23 UEFA Nations League The 2022–23 UEFA Nations League is the third season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA in Europe. The competition is being held ...

campaign. Raya was named in Spain's

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squad, but prior to the team's exit in the round of 16, his only match play during the period came with a second half substitute appearance in a pre-tournament friendly versus

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Style of play

A sweeper-keeper, Raya "is renowned as a vocal keeper, as well as one who is adept with the ball at his feet". He "can play out from the back and is happy covering the space in behind", which allows a team "to play with a high line". As a result of his and Brentford's style of play during the

season, Raya attempted 300 more passes than any other goalkeeper in the Championship.

Personal life

Raya grew up in

Pallejà Pallejà () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by i ...

and is a Real Madrid supporter. He is currently in a relationship with model Tatiana Trouboul.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Blackburn Rovers * EFL League One runner-up: 2017–18 Brentford * EFL Championship play-offs:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Spain *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

Individual * EFL Championship Golden Glove: 2019–20

References

External links

*
David Raya
at brentfordfc.com
David Raya
at rfef.es * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raya, David 1995 births Living people Footballers from Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Spain men's international footballers UE Cornellà players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Southport F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Premier League players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Nations League-winning players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England