Peter Schmeichel shocked by what Mikel Arteta is about to do at Arsenal now

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Arsenal are reportedly about to sign David Raya, and Peter Schmeichel just cannot believe why Mikel Arteta wants this to happen.

The Gunners have had a solid window so far. Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice are all amazing additions, but they aren’t done just yet. Raya is all set to be the next one in.

Schmeichel delivered his verdict on the move on BBC 5 Live Sport, and he’s shocked.

Peter Schmeichel cannot believe Arsenal are signing David Raya

At the end of last season, almost every Arsenal fan would’ve told you their two goalkeepers for the next campaign would be Aaron Ramsdale and Matt Turner.

Both players were very good last season, and there didn’t seem to be a need for a change.

However, after Nottingham Forest came in for Turner, Arteta decided to let him leave and made a move for Brentford star David Raya, who is a massive upgrade on the American.

Manchester United legend Schmeichel just can’t understand why Arteta wants to do this.

He said: “I absolutely do not get it. I cannot understand how a manager can come to the conclusion that it’s a great thing to have competition for the number one shirt.

“A goalkeeper’s position is very reactive. You cannot create anything on your own, you have to wait for things to happen. You’re now asking your goalkeeper to prove you’re better than the other one. That means you now have to go and do stuff, and you don’t want that. It’s the one position on the pitch where you just want steady.

“When you have a competition situation, he also plays that game for himself and for that position, and I don’t get it. What you do is you put a lot of insecurity into the two of them. At the same time, having two challenging for number one, you’re also creating potentially a bad atmosphere in the dressing room because it’s a straight-up competition between two guys who will either start or not play.

“They need to know if it goes wrong, which it does now and again, everyone makes a mistake and everyone costs a goal, that the manager will say: ‘That’s alright, mate, you’re still my number one’. You need to have that confidence. If you don’t, you cannot perform 100 per cent for the team.”

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Schmeichel’s argument definitely makes sense here, but you can’t really blame Mikel Arteta for this either.

Arsenal suffered due to a lack of squad depth last season. That’s the reason why they ended up missing out on the Premier League title, and the last thing Arteta needs is a repeat of that.

Now, if Ramsdale gets injured or suspended, Raya can come in and there will be no drop in quality. That makes Arsenal a complete team, and that’s what’s required to win the title.

To add to that, Arsenal are only signing Raya on a loan deal for now, so there shouldn’t really be any issues between the two goalkeepers in the upcoming campaign.