Spain manager claims ‘world class’ Arsenal star is being overlooked in World Cup debate | Football

Luis de la Fuente has suggested that the media are overlooking Arsenal’s David Raya in the debate about Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper for the World Cup.

Spain have a wealth of goalkeeping options ahead of this summer’s World Cup with Raya competing for a place alongside Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Simon, Barcelona’s Joan Garcia and Real Sociedad’s Alex Remiro.

Simon, who was Spain’s goalkeeper for their successful Euro 2024 campaign, 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, while Simon failed to make the squad.

Spain are due to play Egypt in their next friendly on Tuesday but De la Fuente has refused to confirm whether Raya, Remiro or Garcia will get a chance to impress.

Speaking after the victory against Serbia in Villarreal, De la Fuente made a point of highlighting how highly regarded Raya is in the Premier League and questioned why he has not received more calls from the media to start the Arsenal goalkeeper for the national side.

‘I can’t clear up any doubts for you. The best news is that I have no doubts at all. I have complete confidence in them. There’s something special about them,’ De la Fuente said when asked about his goalkeeping situation.

‘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. Let’s wait and see, don’t be in such a hurry, and enjoy not only these four goalkeepers but also some of the others we have.’

When asked if the decision to give Simon a full game against Serbia reaffirms his position as Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper, De La Fuente replied: ‘I don’t have to reaffirm Unai’s place.

‘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.

‘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.

‘We haven’t changed the goalkeepers because we understand that they are special positions and need to be treated differently, but I insist that we have three other impressive goalkeepers besides Unai.’

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