Henry claims Arteta made £30m transfer decision as Arsenal newbie ‘can win him the Premier League’

Lewis Oldham 21 Sep 2023 9:17 AM

Henry speaks on Arsenal — Thierry Henry is a big fan of PSG teen Warren Zaire-Emery.

Thierry Henry thinks Mikel Arteta made the decision to bring in David Raya because the head coach believes the goalkeeper “can win Arsenal the league”.

The Gunners were busy during the summer transfer window as over £200m was spent to sign Raya, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.

Raya has joined Arsenal on an initial loan deal from Premier League rivals Brentford. Arteta’s side are paying a £3m loan fee for the Spaniard and this transfer includes an obligation to buy for £27m next summer.

Arsenal’s decision to sign Raya has been questioned as Aaron Ramsdale has barely put a foot wrong over the past couple of seasons and the Englishman shone last season as they challenged for the Premier League title.

But Raya has consistently been one of the best ‘keepers in the Premier League in recent years and he is arguably an upgrade on Ramsdale.

Raya was drafted in to start against Everton over the weekend and the Spain international also started against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League group stages on Wednesday night.

Henry thinks Raya was brought in because Arteta thinks the shot-stopper can help Arsenal “in the league”.

“It’s not about who is right or who is wrong – Mikel Arteta is the coach,” Henry told CBS Sports.

“He sees David Raya as a guy that can win him the league. When he sold Bernd Leno, he saw Aaron Ramsdale as a guy who could help them get to the top four.

“I think if he [Arteta] wants to go and get David Raya, it’s not me that wants him, it’s not Jamie [Carragher], it’s not Peter [Schmeichel], it’s not whoever. It doesn’t really matter. He [Arteta] went to get him [Raya]. He [Arteta] thinks he is the better goalkeeper – there is no rotation there.

“Arteta thinks David Raya is better and that’s about it. People have to stop with that goalkeeper thing.”

Henry also cannot understand the uproar relating to Raya and Ramsdale vying for starts as “competition will happen” at big clubs.

“When you play at a big club, competition will happen,” Henry continued.

“Second of all, when you are a striker and a club gets one of the best strikers in the world to compete with you, does a striker cry because you might not feel comfortable because there is another guy that can take my position at half-time or after an hour?

“I can tell you it’s not easy as a striker to go on the field knowing that if you miss, in an hour someone will come on. It’s not about rotation.”

He added: “It’s not about being right or wrong. All I can say is I don’t understand why having two goalkeepers [is a bad thing], it happened to Jamie and it happened to me – when you play at a big club, competition will happen – period.”

Arsenal Aaron Ramsdale