Spain have a host of quality goalkeepers in their ranks and, even though Unai Simon is No 1, Luis de la Fuente believes more needs to be made about the brilliance of Arsenal’s David Raya
Luis de la Fuente has stood up for the quality of Arsenal’s David Raya
Spain boss Luis de la Fuente has questioned why there is not more noise about David Raya being the country’s No 1 as he claimed “nobody talks about him”.
The Arsenal goalkeeper has established himself as the first choice at the Emirates after joining the club in 2023 from Brentford. He’s now crucial to their ambitions and could end the season as a Premier League winner.
With his country he faces some serious competition in the form of Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Simon, Barcelona ’s Joan Garcia and Real Sociedad’s Alex Remiro.
Simon has been Spain’s first choice for several years and it was he who started two summers ago when the Spanish claimed Euro 2024 glory, conceding four times in the seven games en route to glory. He remains the No 1 but De la Fuente believes more credit needs to be given to Raya as a credible alternative.
He said: “It would be unfair if we didn’t value Unai’s quality, class, career, and professional experience. It would be absurd for me to have to come here and reaffirm it, just because he’s Unai Simon. When a goalkeeper is at this level, you have to respect his standing and his career.
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“Besides, we have David Raya, who I’m eager for you to ask me about. In England, they consider him the best goalkeeper in the world, and here nobody talks about him. The same goes for Joan Garcia and Alex Remiro, let’s be fair. But Unai Simon is indisputable. The others have a lot of talent and class, but everything in its own time.”
Simon was given a full 90 minutes on Friday night as La Roja sealed a 3-0 friendly win against Serbia. Raya and Remiro were both on the bench, but with another game to come on Tuesday against Egypt a switch could be made to give someone else the chance to impress.
David Raya is looking to push for the Spain No 1 spot
De La Fuente accepts he needs to tread carefully around switching his goalkeeper, which is such a specialist position and so closely linked to confidence and security.
“The best news is that I have no doubts at all,” he said. “I have complete confidence in them. There’s something special about them. The best news is seeing that all four goalkeepers, regardless of who was left out, embraced each other and are encouraging one another.
“Unai Simon is Unai Simon, Raya is a fantastic goalkeeper, and Alex Remiro is just as good. We’ll see what happens between now and Tuesday, but I have no doubts. My only regret is leaving one out.”
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