Arsenal in advanced talks for David Raya as Matt Turner heads to Nottingham Forest
US goalkeeper set for switch to Midlands as Spaniard makes it clear he wants to move across London to join Mikel Arteta’s side
Arsenal are preparing to sell United States goalkeeper Matt Turner to Nottingham Forest as they enter advanced talks with Brentford over the signing of David Raya.
Arsenal are juggling the possible departure of Turner to Forest with their push for Raya, who has made it clear that he wants to make the move to the Emirates Stadium this summer.
The clubs are understood to be in talks over the terms of an agreement for Turner, who moved to the Premier League from New England Revolution in the summer of 2022.
The 29-year-old, who has made 32 appearances for the United States, played only seven games for Arsenal last season following his £6 million transfer. He has consistently impressed for his country, though, and was their first-choice goalkeeper at last year’s World Cup.
As reported by Telegraph Sport last month, Forest want to sign two new goalkeepers this summer and have also held talks with Manchester United over a permanent move for Dean Henderson, who spent last season on loan at the City Ground. It is understood that Arsenal’s move for Raya is progressing quickly after the north London club submitted their first official proposal in recent days.
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has publicly valued Raya at £40 million but Arsenal are not expected to reach that figure for a player who has only one year remaining on his contract.
Arsenal’s priority in recent weeks has been to raise money through sales, following their £200 million investment in Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber earlier this summer, but they do not want to miss the opportunity to sign Raya amid interest from Bayern Munich.
Arsenal’s interest in the Spaniard is longstanding and they first attempted to sign him from Brentford in the summer of 2020, when a bid of around £10 million was rejected. Arsenal’s goalkeeper coach, Iñaki Caña, previously worked with Raya at Brentford.
Bayern were this week still attempting to convince Raya to switch to Germany, but the Bundesliga side have been proposing a loan move rather than a permanent transfer.
Brentford would be willing to loan Raya to Bayern but only if the 27-year-old agreed to extend his contract. So far, Raya has shown no willingness to do so and is instead pushing to join Arsenal on a permanent basis.
If a deal can be agreed, Raya will challenge Aaron Ramsdale for a place in Mikel Arteta’s starting line-up.
