Arsenal have made an offer for Brentford goalkeeper David Raya.

David Rye's contract expires next summer and Brentford has set an asking price of around £40m. Credit: Getty Images/Marc Atkins

Arsenal have revived their longtime interest in Brentford goalkeeper David Raya and are considering making a formal offer for the Spaniard, who will be available for sale this summer.

Arsenal are big fans of Rai and first attempted to sign the goalkeeper in the summer of 2020 when Brentford turned down an offer of around £10m.

The key to any possible move is Iñaki Kanya, Arsenal's highly regarded goalkeeping coach «. Kanya previously worked at Brentford and was the goalkeeping coach who actually signed Ray to the club from Blackburn Rovers in 2019.

Should Arsenal decide to formalize their interest and negotiate a deal with Brentford, Raya will compete with Aaron Ramsdale for a spot in Mikel Arteta's starting lineup. Arsenal's current backup goalkeeper, US international Matt Turner, is reportedly of interest to Nottingham Forest.

Ramsdale has been Arsenal's undisputed best goalkeeper over the past two seasons and his development at the club was rewarded with a new contract in May of this year.

The eventual arrival of Rai will create more competition in the Arteta team and put pressure on Ramsdale to keep his results from recent seasons.

Raja is understood to be open to a move to north London and a reunion with Kanya, despite Ramsdale currently topping Arsenal. If an agreement is reached between Brentford and Arsenal, Rai's personal terms will not cause problems.

Interest from Arsenal arose after Bayern Munich opened negotiations with Brentford last week to sign Raya. Reports from Germany suggested that Bayern would only be interested in a loan deal this summer, but as Telegraph Sport reported last week, Raya is known to be looking to leave on a permanent basis.

Ray has with only one year remaining on his contract with Brentford, he said in February that he had turned down two offers for a new deal.

Brentford publicly valued Rye at £40m, with head coach Thomas Frank saying that it is an «open secret» that they are willing to cash in on the 27-year-old in this transfer window.

“I think it's natural that he would want to leave if it's a good opportunity for him,” Frank said. «We all think it's a good idea at the right price.»

Brentford have already signed new goalkeeper Mark Flecken from the Netherlands in an £11m deal that was struck at the start of the transfer window. .

Raye has also attracted the attention of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United this year, although both clubs have since completed their search for alternative goalkeeping targets.

Tottenham Hotspur have identified Rae as a possible long-term successor to Hugo Lloris, but has since signed Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Serie A side Empoli for around £17m. In the meantime, United have signed Andre Onana from Inter Milan for £47m.

Chelsea are also long-time fans of Rai and are known to have been in informal talks this summer for his move, but they still haven't activated this interest.