Mikel Arteta insists there is no added pressure on his Arsenal goalkeepers despite the competition for a place between David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal’s goalkeeping situation has been one of the talking points of the campaign to date, with the Gunners having signed Raya from Brentford during the summer.
The Spaniard has since ousted Ramsdale as first-choice, despite Arteta’s stance that Arsenal have two ‘number ones’. However, Raya has struggled to convince in recent fixtures, leading to questions whether the uncertain status of the goalkeepers is having a detrimental effect.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Sevilla, Arteta dismissed that suggestion and said there is pressure in every position when ‘playing for a big club’.
“There is a pressure of playing for big clubs where you have to win and you have to be at your best, and you have someone next to you that is pushing you every single day,” Arteta said at his pre-match press conference.
“But we can go player by player or position by position – you will tell me what’s happening with the left-back, the holding midfielder – you’ve asked Jorginho a question already – and Gabriel Jesus is here and there’s another question on that.
“That’s the debate and that’s the beauty of the game as well and the fact that you have a lot of options is going to make those talks more frequent.”
Asked whether Raya, who made a mistake during the 2-2 draw with Chelsea at the weekend, was suffering under the pressure, Arteta added: “I haven’t seen that at all.”
