Jaume Munell, the agent to David Raya has claimed Arsenal fought off competition from Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich to sign the goalkeeper.
According to Munell, ‘issues’ with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations prevented the Gunners from signing Raya on a permanent deal in the summer.
Mikel Arteta brought in the Spanish stopper on loan from Brentford for a £3 million fee in August but have the option to make the deal permanent for £27m at the end of the season.
The 28-year-old has displaced Aaron Ramsdale as Mikel Arteta’s first-choice goalkeeper but has come under fire after several unconvincing performances since his move to Arsenal.
‘Arsenal showed interest for the first time three years ago in 2021. They tried to buy him but Brentford didn’t want to sell him at any price,’ Munell told AFTV.
‘After they bought Ramsdale that was an easier option but David has always been the priority.
‘This summer, he had just one year left on his contract with Brentford and Arsenal was the club that showed the most concrete interest and have always been our priority.
‘Tottenham also was interested and made an official bid but it was refused because was lower than the €40m [£34.9m] that Brentford wanted to sell him, also Bayern Munich was interested and had an amazing offer but with no buy option included and for this reason, we’ve not accepted it.
‘Bayern Munich didn’t understand our refusal because they thought that Raya would have been the backup keeper at Arsenal but as you can see it’s not like this. Also Manchester United and Chelsea made an inquiry but nothing concrete.’
