David Raya’s path from anonymous loan goalkeeper at Southport FC to Champions League finalist with Arsenal is the kind of story that reads like fiction. Except the receipts are right there on his phone.
Sitting at Spain’s training camp in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Raya leaps out of his chair to prove a point. He scrolls through old match reports from his time in England’s fifth tier, finding one that doesn’t even bother naming him. It simply refers to “the goalkeeper, who played in yesterday’s match.”
From Barcelona to Blackburn to the bottom of English football
Raya left Barcelona for Blackburn Rovers’ academy at age 16 in 2012. By 2014, he was on loan at Southport FC in the National League. Raya has spoken about being bullied by 35-year-old journeymen, players whose primary skill set involved making life uncomfortable for anyone younger and smaller.
Three Golden Gloves and a title
