David Raya has agreed personal terms with Arsenal ahead of a possible move from Brentford, according to reports.
with a long-time admirer of his compatriot.
The Gunners currently have as their first choice goalkeeper – with American acting as an understudy – but Arteta wants to bring in higher quality cover and competition for the the international.
There have been suggestions that Raya would replace Ramsdale as the No.1 ‘keeper at the Emirates should he move to north London – as his first choice.
Fresh indicate that Arsenal have now agreed personal terms with Raya and must now reach an agreement with Brentford on his price tag – with the west Londoners keen to secure £40m for the 27-year-old.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank, speaking this week, said: ‘I hope [we get an offer], we are waiting to sell. David would like to go. That’s fine for us. If a club want to buy [him] they just need to find out the price. So I guess it should be simple, but apparently it’s very difficult!
‘He’s worth £40m – I’d love to get that for him. He was one of the four best keepers in the Premier League last season.
‘What is the price for a player with one year left? Declan Rice went to Arsenal for £105m – is that a fair price? And Harry Kane, one year left, and they’re talking about £150m?
‘Anyway, it’s not up to me. It’s always complicated. Two sides of the coin when it comes to negotiations and we meet somewhere in the middle.’
Brentford have already signed a replacement for Raya, bringing in Mark Flekken ahead of the new season.