Mikel Arteta has last laugh on David Raya transfer as Arsenal star hits big milestone

Mikel Arteta says he got “hammered” for signing David Raya - but now the Spain keeper is becoming an Arsenal legend. Gunners keeper Raya was an unpopular choice when he was brought in from Brentford and succeeded fan favourite Aaron Ramsdale as Arsenal No1 two years ago.

It caused huge debate and fall-out at the time but, incredibly, Raya is now on the brink of a special piece of history as he is set to make his 100th appearance for Arsenal in all competitions against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Raya has already kept 41 clean sheets in those appearances and gained a reputation for some spectacular saves while twice winning the Premier League (albeit he shared the second one with Forest keeper Matz Sels).

Arteta says that ratio alone puts him up there as the best in the club’s history which obviously brings the likes of David Seaman, Jens Lehmann and Bob Wilson into the conversation as all three were title-winning keepers.

When asked whether Raya’s clean sheet record was pretty good, Gunners boss Arteta said: “Pretty good. It’s the best in the history of the football club! It's unbelievable.

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“And I was hammered when I brought him. So that's perspective as well. Very good to understand the game, and especially when a few months or years go by. It's really good to look back as well and reflect on that.

“It wasn’t just me who brought him in. We all did. And obviously with the help of everybody, I think he has a tremendous impact in the team. So congratulations, because what he's done in that period is an exception.”

Arteta also claimed that the decision to replace Ramsdale - who was loved by the fans and had been a huge character and part of Arsenal’s revival - was made even more unpopular because he was English, homegrown and therefore fans naturally prefer one of their own.

Arteta said: “It's not about that. It's about it's different. If he was a player from Serbia, we were having a different conversation for sure. But he was someone that was very much loved. A very special character. English, international. That has a lot of ingredients to become a big debate for sure.

“I knew Aaron had the courage to deal with that situation. Because that's difficult to deal with. It's not easy when you come to a big club. It was a big step for him. But we believed that he was the right keeper as well to give us something else. And he was part of evolving as a team as well.”

Arteta also delivered very positive news on contract negotiations for Bukayo Saka and William Saliba who are both into the final two years of their contracts. Both players have indicated a willingness to stay and Arteta says Arsenal’s sporting director Andrea Berta is on his way to securing new deals for both. Saka is unlikely to face Forest but Saliba is back in training.

Arteta added: “I think the collaboration between the club and what Andrea is doing and the agents are very, very, very good.

“I think the good thing is that the players want to remain here and they want to be a big part of the history of this club in the next few years. And that's always positive. And Andrea will drive that and see where we go.”

Meanwhile, Arteta also could not resist a dig at any detractors who claimed Arsenal were negative at Liverpool by using Mikel Merino in midfield as the Spaniard scored a hat trick and four goals overall while on international duty.

Arteta added: “Yeah, I heard some comments after Liverpool saying we play with three defensive midfielders, I think it was the narrative, no? When Mikel has a hat-trick playing as an attacking midfielder, I don't know when he's the last attacking midfielder to score three goals.”

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