David Seaman believes Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is struggling to adapt to life at a top club after a shaky start since joining from Brentford.
Arsenal raised eyebrows when they signed Raya to compete with Aaron Ramsdale, even though Ramsdale excelled last season and started for England in their recent friendly win over Scotland.
Seaman is one of Arsenal’s greatest keepers, winning 12 trophies during a 13-year spell at the club, and admits the current situation is not easy for either player.
‘I remember when I was at Arsenal and they paid a lot of money for Richard Wright (who joined from Ipswich for £6m in 2001). He came in as my number two and I thought: ‘Whoa, this is serious competition’, but I showed him what I could do.
Goalkeeper David Raya is under pressure after an unconvincing start to life at Arsenal
David Seaman believes he has struggled to adapt because of all the attention on him
‘But the manager (Arsene Wenger) at the time didn’t say, ‘I’m going to rotate the goalkeepers’, and that’s what Mikel has said. So now we’re looking, watching and thinking, ‘David’s not having the best of times at the moment and he’s making a couple of mistakes, will he get rotated?’ And if that happens then Mikel’s true to his word.
‘But it is tough because Aaron’s not done a lot wrong. Last year he was goalkeeper of the year as voted by the players. That’s one of the biggest awards that you could ever hope for.
‘Then he started this season really well, played against Scotland and finds himself on the bench. Aaron is only 24. He’s still got a long time to learn his trade but it’s a tough time for him at the moment.
Seaman believes the treatment of Aaron Ramsdale is tough as he hasn’t done much wrong
‘All we can do is wait and see and see what happens because Mikel even spoke about rotating them in game, like bringing the goalkeeper off, and I thought ‘Really?’.
Raya is on an initial loan deal with the expectation that he will join permanently for £27million next summer.
Seaman still coaches at Arsenal on an informal basis and added: ‘I’ve got to be careful because I go in and I see the lads. When I go in and coach, I speak to Aaron, I speak to David. I’ve got to be straight down the middle, so it can get a little bit difficult sometimes.’
David Seaman was speaking to The Football Gods podcast
