The Arsenal goalkeeper has won the Premier League’s Golden Glove Award for the third consecutive year, but has no aspirations for a major post-season accolade.
David Raya has kept 17 clean sheets in the Premier League this season (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Goalkeepers are treated rather harshly when it comes to individual awards, considering that a goalkeeper’s excellence or fallibility often determines their ultimate fate of honors. Only one player has won the Ballon d’Or, Lev Yashin in 1963, and only twice in English club football has the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) given the top award to a keeper.
Pat Jennings, still at Spurs, was named PFA Player of the Year in the 1975-76 season, an accolade taken a few years later by Peter Shilton, who conceded just 18 goals in 37 league games for title-winning Nottingham Forest. That’s it.
The Football Writers’ Association (FWA) gives the keeper a slight rating, but nothing more. In the award’s 77-year history, four players have won the FWA Player of the Year Award: Bert Trautman (1955-56), Gordon Banks (1971-72), Pat Jennings (1972-73) and Neville Southall (1984-85).
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And when FWA chairman and Daily Mirror colleague John Cross announces the 2025-26 winner, I would be surprised if a fifth keeper is added to the list. I don’t know. I don’t know. Honestly. Not a clue. However, most bookmakers do not include keepers in their PFA Award odds list.
According to bookmaker odds, Bruno Fernandes is the favorite for the PFA award, followed by Declan Rice, Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva and Rayan Cherchi. But Arsenal’s David Raya should be on that list, especially if he can be equally reliable throughout the season in back-to-back Premier League games and the Champions League final.
Judging by these bookmakers’ odds, there are five finalists for the individual awards at the end of the season. You can find weaknesses in every case.
Fernandes. He’s had a great season, especially his assist record. However, in the end he was unable to lead the team to the trophy.
Bruno Fernandes is the frontrunner for PFA Player of the Year (Image: Getty)
Rice. A huge influence in Arsenal’s midfield, he appears to be getting a second wind, but in terms of goal contributions, his numbers could probably be better.
Harland. It’s hard to argue with the fact that he has scored 36 goals in all competitions for Manchester City this season, but he has scored three in 13 Premier League games.
Silva. The Portuguese midfielder deserves all the praise after a fantastic nine years at the Etihad, but this season has been more consistent than brilliant.
Cherki. He has shown some maverick talent in recent months and is one of the few Premier League players with an adventurous spirit, but he has taken time to settle down.
There are several candidates, but in the case of Raya, there are no caveats. Raya has kept clean sheets in 26 of the 48 games he has played for Arsenal this season. He played 13 games in the Champions League, conceding just four goals.
Declan Rice has had a great season at Arsenal (Image: Justin Setterfield, Getty Images)
He is already guaranteed to win at least part of the Golden Glove Award, which recognizes the keeper with the most clean sheets in the Premier League. This is the third year in a row that he has won this award. And this player is a keeper who was loaned to non-league side Southport about 10 years ago.
There are various accounts as to who had the most influence over Arsenal’s somewhat surprising signing of Raya three years ago. He had been working with Arsenal goalkeeping coach Inaki Kana at Brentford for several months.
But the player who ultimately gave the green light made one of the best decisions in Arsenal’s recent transfer history. So when the end-of-season individual awards are announced, it’s highly unlikely that Raya will be the winner…but she’ll be a very worthy winner.
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