Having kept 19 clean sheets for Arsenal in the Premier League this season, David Raya has won the Golden Glove award for the third consecutive year, capping a memorable season for the Catalan.

Of course, it’s a campaign that may get significantly better yet, with the Gunners facing down PSG this weekend in the 2025/26 Champions League final. Yet, regardless of the outcome in Budapest, Raya can be extremely satisfied with his output this term, once again proving that he is one of the best practitioners of his craft worldwide.

First and foremost, his supreme displays between the sticks for Mikel Arteta’s men helped secure his club a Premier League title, a feat last achieved by Arsenal way back in 2004.

Footage of the players and fans celebrating their title triumph have been widely shared online.

On an individual basis meanwhile, the keeper is still very much in contention for further honours, with many tipping him to win Arsenal’s Player of the Season merit. There is also the Premier League Save of the Season award to consider, Raya’s phenomenal stop at the expense of Brighton last December on a shortlist of ten.

Initial Doubts Give Way to Assuredness

Since joining the North Londin giants in the summer of 2023 from Brentford, Raya has firmly established himself as an elite performer, keeping 16 clean sheets in his inaugural league campaign at the Emirates.

Last October, the 30-year-old finished sixth in the Yashin Trophy ranking, picking up 31 votes.

His signing, however, was accompanied by some confusion, with Arsenal already possessing a fine keeper in Aaron Ramsdale. This led to pundits, and fans alike, questioning whether the transfer was a necessary one.

Arteta himself looked back at this period, when speaking to the Overlap podcast this week, saying:

“I was very convinced that we had to make a change. Not because Aaron didn’t have the quality. Because I believed to go to the next level we needed a different profile of goalkeeper.”

‘It was very difficult to explain, difficult to explain upstairs and externally. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work or not but David is going to present himself and dedicate himself to the cause and be an incredible ambassador for the club. I was sure.”

A Study in Impregnability

It’s interesting to note that Raya’s save percentage in the Premier League is down this season, to last. In 2024/25 he averaged 71.7%. This time out that has decreased slightly to 69.8%.

Safeguarded by a formidable defence in front of him, however, the keeper helped Arsenal concede the fewest number of goals in the English top-flight since 2022. From August to May, they were breached every 126 minutes.

Then we arrive at his clean sheets, a tally only bettered by three Premier League keepers in the last 16 years.

Remarkably, Raya shut out opposition forwards in 51.3% of his outings this term as the Gunners secured their long-desired crown.