The stats that prove Raya would be a huge upgrade on Tottenham's Lloris
Brentford fans must have feared the worst when Thomas Frank all-but confirmed that goalkeeper David Raya wouldn't be at the club beyond the summer. "There is a possibility he’ll leave this summer maybe, for the right price, and if that happens then of course we need to be prepared," the Bees boss said last month. With Raya entering the final year of his contract and unwilling to extend his stay in west London, Brentford need to cash in on the Spaniard this summer or lose him on a free next year.
Frank spoke about the need to be prepared, and Brentford already have Raya's replacement on the books. Mark Flekken kept more clean sheets (13) than any other goalkeeper in the Bundesliga last season having played a key role in Freiburg's fifth placed finish last term, with the Dutchman coming in to ease Raya's likely exit.
Whether Flekken is the right man to succeed Raya remains to be seen, but the former's arrival at least softens the latter's impending departure. Raya was linked with a host of Premier League rivals, notably Manchester United and Chelsea, but with the pair focussing their efforts elsewhere to strengthen between the sticks, Tottenham are in pole position to land the 27-year-old.
The appointment of Ange Postecoglou last week signals the start of a new era at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and a rebuild the club so desperately needs. The best place to lay a new foundation is between the sticks, with Raya now their priority. The current Bees shotstopper made quite the impression in Spurs' final home game of the campaign as Brentford earned a 3-1 win in north London, with Raya key.
Six saves in total, including an impressive last-ditch double salvo to deny Richarlison late on, contributed towards a WhoScored rating of 7.65, Raya's seventh best in a Premier League match last season, and gave supporters, hopefully, a taste of what is to come from the Spain international. What will have left a lasting impression on supporters those is Raya's effectiveness with the ball at his feet.
For too long, Spurs have muddled through with Hugo Lloris in goal. When he joined in 2012, the club pulled off a masterstroke to secure the Frenchman's services from Lyon, but as the game developed that meant goalkeepers were more heavily involved in instigating attacks from defence, Lloris' poor distribution began to impact the club.
You only have to look at the likes of Ederson and Alisson for Manchester City and Liverpool, respectively, to truly realise how important a ball playing goalkeeper is nowadays, and this meant Spurs were unable to take their game to the next level, before, ultimately, being overtaken by their rivals. That's not to say Lloris hasn't been a loyal servant to the club during his time in England, but rather it's time to move on to develop, and that means making tough choices.
Fortunately for Spurs, Raya is believed to be keen on a move across the capital as they seek to rectify their goalkeeping issues, and crucially bring in a shotstopper who is able to help initiate attacks from defence. Raya was the busiest goalkeeper on the continent last season, making more saves than any other shotstopper (154) in Europe's top five leagues, all the while returning a save success rate of 75.1%, that the best in England's top tier.
By comparison, Lloris made 79 saves, though did start just 25 matches due to injury, yet returned a save success rate of just 66.4%. In addition, the 2018 World Cup winner committed more errors leading to an opposition goal (4) than any other player in the Premier League last season - Raya made just one - to further highlight Spurs' need for a refresh between the sticks.
This also serves the reinforce the notion that Raya deals with opposition pressure to a far better standard than Lloris, with age perhaps catching up on the latter. Then there is the command of the penalty area that stands the former in much better stead. Indeed, Raya ranked second for good high claims per game (1.32) in the Premier League last season, almost double Lloris' return (0.68) with the former France international struggling to assert himself in the penalty area, which in turn helped invite pressure upon the Spurs goal.
Raya, though, exudes confidence between the sticks and this benefitted the Brentford backline, who could rest easy knowing the Spaniard was on hand to play his part in alleviating pressure on the Bees goal. The same couldn't be said of Lloris and Spurs last season.
A core main reason behind interest in Raya is due to his distribution. The Brentford man ranked top for accurate long balls (410) in the Premier League last season, with Raya vital in the way the Bees get the ball forward, whereas Lloris made just 109 accurate long balls. And despite attempting far more long balls, Raya also boasted the better long ball success rate (42.1%) of the two goalkeepers, Lloris returning a 40.7% accuracy.
With personal terms supposedly close to being agreed between Raya and Spurs, the stumbling block will be agreeing a fee with Brentford, who are believed to be holding out for £40m, this despite the goalkeeper entering the final year of his Bees contract. Nevertheless, there is hope that the north London side can strike a deal with their west London counterparts with Raya considered the first piece of the puzzle that is Spurs' hard reset.
