Arsenal have reportedly tabled their opening bid for Brentford goalkeeper David Raya.
The Spain international has been on the radar of several top teams this summer after helping to establish Brentford as a top-half Premier League side in the 2022-23 campaign.
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were credited with an interest in Raya earlier in the window, before turning their attentions to Andre Onana and Guglielmo Vicario respectively.
After the two Big Six sides dropped their interest, Bayern Munich - who could lose Yann Sommer to Inter Milan as a replacement for Onana - appeared to jump to the head of the queue.
However, reports over the past few days have linked Arsenal with a surprise move for the former Blackburn Rovers man, who would apparently prefer to move to the Emirates than the Allianz Arena.
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Raya is believed to have come to an agreement with Arsenal over personal terms, and according to Fabrizio Romano, the Gunners have now approached Brentford with their first bid.
Romano states that Arsenal have offered an initial £20m, which could rise to £23m with performance-related add-ons, and Raya has informed Brentford that he wishes to join their London rivals.
The 27-year-old is in the final year of his contract at the Gtech Community Stadium, but manager Thomas Frank has publicly stated that he would hope to garner a £40m fee through a summer sale.
As a result, Arsenal's opening bid is expected to be swiftly rejected, but the Gunners will likely return with an improved offer as they prepare to shift a plethora of unwanted players over the coming weeks.
The Gunners only signed USA international goalkeeper Matt Turner last year to act as Aaron Ramsdale's backup, as Bernd Leno departed for Fulham after losing his number one status to the Englishman.
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Turner impressed in the Europa League, but he did not play a single minute in the Premier League, and Nottingham Forest are rumoured to be keeping a close eye on developments surrounding the 29-year-old if their pursuit of Dean Henderson does not bear fruit.
Ramsdale started for Arsenal in Wednesday's Emirates Cup success over Monaco, where he was the hero in the penalty shootout with a crucial save from Takumi Minamino to help Arsenal retain the friendly title.
Arteta was quizzed on links with Raya after the game, but the Gunners boss provided a typically dismissive response, telling reporters: "You know that I'm not going to talk about any player that is not here, I'm sorry."
Raya has kept 54 clean sheets in 161 matches for Brentford since leaving Blackburn in 2019, including 12 shut-outs in the 2022-23 Premier League season, where he made more saves than any other goalkeeper with 154.
However, the Spain international has not been involved in either of Brentford's last two friendly matches with Brighton & Hove Albion or Aston Villa, where Thomas Strakosha and new signing Mark Flekken rotated in goal.
Ben Knapton
