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David Raya breaks his silence on ousting Aaron Ramsdale from Arsenal starting spot

David Raya, Aaron Ramsdale Arsenal

David Raya has replaced Aaron Ramsdale as Arsenal No1

David Raya has broken his silence on Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s surprising decision to recently bench Aaron Ramsdale and replace him with the summer signing.

The Spaniard is currently unsure whether or not he has done enough to retain his place ahead of Ramsdale for Sunday afternoon’s north London derby clash with Tottenham at The Emirates.

The Brentford loanee made his debut in place of the England international on Sunday and kept a clean sheet in a rare victory for his new club at Goodison Park.

And Ramsdale was again forced to watch on from the bench again on Wednesday night as Arsenal crushed PSV on their return to Champions League for the first time in six years.

Raya, who excels at playing out from the back, put in another polished performance as the Gunners cruised although he denies that it’s a forgone conclusion that he will be given a nod against Spurs.

“It’s his choice, it’s not my choice,” said Raya of Mikel Arteta’s decision to rotate his goalkeepers. “When Aaron comes back in he needs to fight for the team and to win games.

“I understand [the conversations about the decision] and I think it’s the first time two top goalkeepers are in the same team so that’s just part of football now. The gaffer wants two top players for each position and that’s what we have to work with.

“I played the last two games and I don’t know what’s going to happen on Sunday.”

Arteta was also asked to elaborate on a decision that has now cast doubt over Ramsdale’s long-term future in north London.

The Gunners chief, however, gave little away at his post-match press conference, saying: “It’s the belief that I had in the team that I wanted to play with the expected opponent.

“Not only that, the changes that we made with all the players, it was for the same reason.”

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