Mikel Arteta has explained Arsenal’s move for David Raya (Pictures: Getty)

Mikel Arteta has explained why he decided to sign David Raya from Brentford and insists he does not have a No. 1 in mind despite the presence of Arsenal star Aaron Ramsdale.

‘He brings the qualities for our game model, it’s very simple. We want two players per position,’ Arteta said.

‘You see what happened to Jurrien [Timber] and that could happen to our goalkeeper. It recently happened to [Real Madrid’s] Thibaut Courtois so we have to be prepared.

‘We have to be prepared and we have to be proactive so now we have two excellent goalkeepers now who fit our style.’

Pressed on whether there is a No. 1 at Arsenal, Arteta replied: ‘Not in any position – nine, seven, six – we don’t have a number one in any position.’

Asked if he understood the surprise over the signing, Arteta added: ‘I understand but there are always questions, when we had different goalkeepers there were questions as well.

‘There is nothing wrong we have two great left wingers and two great strikers and two great holding midfielders and that’s not a problem so this shouldn’t be a problem either.’

More to follow…

Raya has joined Arsenal on loan from Brentford.