Mikel Arteta disregarded advice from a top Arsenal coach and continued with his transfer plans last summer.
Mikel Arteta’s choice to replace Aaron Ramsdale with David Raya reportedly caused a dispute with his top assistant coach.
Last summer, the Arsenal manager controversially decided to invest in Raya, making the Spanish goalkeeper one of his four signings.
Arsenal aimed to build on their impressive 2022/23 season, where they finished second in the Premier League, with the goalkeeper position being a key focus.
However, Raya’s arrival was contentious both in the media and among fans, as Ramsdale had been anticipated to stay as the first-choice goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.
On August 15, Raya was brought on loan from Brentford for an initial fee of £3 million, with an option to make the transfer permanent for an additional £27 million.
However, this decision created tension among the Arsenal staff, with assistant coach Steve Round reportedly being one of those against the transfer, according to The Athletic.
Round, who initially coached Arteta as David Moyes’ assistant at Everton and joined Arsenal in 2019, was one of the manager’s most trusted aides along with Albert Stuivenberg.
However, he disagreed with the move for Raya, believing that replacing Ramsdale would disrupt the well-established culture at Arsenal due to Ramsdale’s popularity among the staff and players.
He believed that the club should invest in other areas instead of putting more resources into the goalkeeping department, particularly since Ramsdale had signed a new contract only a few months ago. However, Arteta had already made his decision.
The disagreement is said to have contributed to Round’s exit from Arsenal, officially described as a ‘mutual agreement’ in July 2023, prior to Raya’s signing.
This conveyed to Arteta’s team that the club was continually seeking innovative solutions and would pursue squad enhancements, regardless of how minor or tough the decisions appeared.
Arteta subsequently promoted the 28-year-old coaching prodigy Carlos Cuesta to replace Round. The Mallorcan, fluent in six languages, has grown increasingly influential at London Colney, even highlighting his intelligence in Amazon Prime’s 2022 ‘All or Nothing’ documentary.
Cuesta’s promotion also illustrated to Arteta’s younger staff that there were opportunities for advancement within Arsenal.
After Raya’s arrival, Arteta fueled further controversy and confusion by suggesting in a press conference that he might substitute goalkeepers during matches if needed.
This led to questions about why the club invested so heavily in two players for the same position. Despite the concerns, the Spanish goalkeeper debuted against Everton and by September 17, had completely taken over Ramsdale’s role as the No.1.
Despite a rough beginning and some notable errors, which Arteta and his team blamed on the intense external pressure, the 28-year-old quickly proved his manager’s trust was well-placed.
His 16 clean sheets this season, a Premier League record, won him the Golden Glove award as Arsenal fell short of the title by just two points.
His transfer will become permanent in the summer, with contract terms already agreed upon. Meanwhile, Ramsdale is expected to depart after three years in North London.
The English goalkeeper had to come to terms with spending a significant amount of time on the bench throughout the season. He only made two appearances after being benched, both against Brentford, because Raya was unable to play against his former team.
