Declan Rice has been so brilliant as a leader and all around player in the Arsenal midfield that many pundits have been giving him Ballon d’Or shouts, and as the Premier League Player of the Season debates heat up, the Gunners faithful are throwing around his name plenty in conversations.
But legendary Arsenal stiker Thierry Henry doesn’t think Arsenal have just one Player of the Season caliber star in their side, which makes sense since they are the clear leaders in the Premier League and are now through to the Champions League quarterfinals again.
Speaking on the CBS broadcast, Henry gave some love to the man between the sticks, calling Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya someone who he feels should be in contention for Player of the Season, too.
And it makes sense. Raya has clearly been the best goalkeeper in the league with Gianluigi Donnarumma starting to look shaky for Manchester City and Liverpool’s Alisson Becker having a down year, exacerbated by injuries.
Meanwhile, Raya is making jaw dropping saves every week, barely making mistakes, leading the back line perfectly, and registering a clean sheet in nearly half of his games.
Since Arsenal’s defense is so good and midfielders are more valuable than goalkeepers this year, Raya over Rice – let alone Manchester United’s assist king Bruno Fernandes – is a hard sell. But you won’t find any goalkeeper as valuable as Raya this season either.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.