It has been less than a year since David Raya made his first Premier League appearance for Arsenal, but after this weekend’s performance he has certainly put an end to any debate about whether Mikel Arteta did the right thing when he dropped Aaron Ramsdale in favour of the former Brentford Goalkeeper.

It’s been a long time since Arsenal could claim to have a truly top-class goalkeeper. Since the dizzying heights of David Seaman and Jens Lehmann, Arsenal have fluctuated between “good enough” and “disastrous”. Petr Cech never reached the level he once held at Chelsea; Bernd Leno was adequate.

For a while, it looked like Arsenal had found their man in Ramsdale, who joined from Sheffield United in 2021. Ramsdale was a fan favourite from the start and made a number of memorable saves, including against Leicester and a crucial double save in the North London derby.

So it was understandable that eyebrows were raised when Raya suddenly moved into the starting line-up. What exactly had Ramsdale done wrong?

Fast forward 11 months and Arsenal must feel more than vindicated by their decision to give Raya the number one shirt. His performance against Aston Villa, where he denied Ollie Watkins a seemingly inevitable goal, once again demonstrated his world-class athleticism. Simply put, Ramsdale is good, but not as good as Raya.

Raya is fortunate to have the best centre-back duo in front of him, but neither William Saliba nor Gabriel are perfect. Watkins’ first miss of the game came after a poor touch from Gabriel in a dangerous area, and Saliba made several misplaced passes against Wolves last weekend, putting Arsenal under unnecessary pressure.

It’s a relief for Arsenal fans that there really can be no more debate about Raya. The next question is, can the club keep him?

You can find more from Laura Kirk-Francis in Latte Firm Podcast, external