{"id":1230,"date":"2026-04-28T10:14:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:14:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/razak.com.ng\/?p=1230"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:14:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:14:03","slug":"if-i-had-stayed-in-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/razak.com.ng\/?p=1230","title":{"rendered":"“If I had stayed in Spain…”"},"content":{"rendered":"


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David Raya<\/strong>goalkeeper for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal who faces Atl\u00e9tico de Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, was honest with Jorge Valdano<\/strong> in the program ‘Valdano Universe’ by Movistar Plus+.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I haven’t been preparing all year to fight for the Premier League and the Champions League, I’ve been working and preparing for it for 14 years.<\/p>\n

David Raya<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“We know that Atl\u00e9tico is a great team, it is going to be a very difficult game in Madrid. We have to show that Arsenal is here to fight for the final,” commented the Spanish goalkeeper, who has been in England since he was 16 years old and is enjoying his fifth season in the Premier League, a competition in which in the last two years has won the Gold Glove <\/strong>(which credits him as the best goalkeeper in the highest category of English football).<\/p>\n

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David Raya to Valdano: “If I had stayed in Spain I would be working in the family trade”<\/span>Valdano Universe<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 30-year-old goalkeeper acknowledged to Valdano that “I haven’t been preparing all year to fight for the Premier League and the Champions League, I’ve been working and preparing for it for 14 years.”<\/p>\n

David Raya remembers his tough beginnings in English football, which he arrived at when he was 16<\/h2>\n

David Raya reflects, on his decision to leave Spain in 2012 at the age of 16 to build a future in England, that “I have come to the conclusion that, if I had not gone to England so young, I would be working in the family business and not playing football.”<\/p>\n

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Every extra they could have was money to help at home, pay the mortgage, their expenses… That’s when I realized that I was privileged at only 16 years old. I had to go back there with the clothes, I washed them myself. It was a touch of reality<\/p>\n

David Raya<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The international goalkeeper with Spain, who aspires to be in the 2026 World Cup, does not forget that his beginnings at Arsenal were not easy: “Against Luton in my first season at Arsenal I played the worst game of my career, and from there I made changes in my life and everything went up.”<\/p>\n

Raya comes from a family of jewelers and designed the Eurocup champions’ ring with her brother<\/h2>\n

David Raya comes from a family of jewelers. In 2024, together with his brother, he designed the ring for the players who won the 2024 Euro Cup.<\/p>\n

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Having a family of jewelers, it has always been a dream to win a title like the Euro Cup and to be able to reflect it in something like a small trophy that is different.<\/p>\n

David Raya<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Having a family of jewelers, it has always been an illusion to win a title like the Euro Cup and to be able to reflect it in something like a small trophy that is different. In the NBA you see a lot, it has already been seen on more occasions in football, and it was a great opportunity to have something different by winning the Euro Cup. It is something that can be implemented in football, to have a memory after the great effort we have made to win something as important as a Euro Cup,” explained the Arsenal goalkeeper on the official website of the RFEF.<\/p>\n