Luis de la Fuente has addressed Spain’s goalkeeping picture before the World Cup, praising the depth at his disposal while making clear David Raya remains part of a highly competitive race for places.
David Raya’s place in Spain’s World Cup thinking has been pushed back into the spotlight after Luis de la Fuente suggested the Arsenal goalkeeper is not being discussed enough despite his reputation in England. Raya has been part of Spain’s latest squad alongside Unai Simon, Alex Remiro and first-time call-up Joan Garcia, with the competition for places clearly intensifying as the World Cup draws closer.
Speaking after Spain's win against Serbia, De la Fuente defended Simon’s position, asked if Simon’s full outing against Serbia underlined his role as Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper, De la Fuente said his position did not need to be reasserted. But he also made a point of bringing Raya into the conversation. “Besides, we have David Raya, who I’m eager for you to ask me about. In England, they consider him the best goalkeeper in the world, and here nobody talks about him,” he said.
Rather than downplaying the Arsenal goalkeeper, de la Fuente appeared to be making the case that Raya deserves more attention than he is currently getting.
At the same time, the Spain manager was careful to underline Simon’s standing. “It would be unfair if we didn’t value Unai’s quality, class, career, and professional experience,” he said. “It would be absurd for me to have to come here and reaffirm it, just because he’s Unai Simon. When a goalkeeper is at this level, you have to respect his standing and his career.”
It shows Raya is operating in a goalkeeping group where the manager sees both hierarchy and depth. De la Fuente was explicit on that too. “The same goes for Joan Garcia and Alex Remiro, let’s be fair. But Unai Simon is indisputable. The others have a lot of talent and class, but everything in its own time,” he said.
He then reinforced the point by explaining why Spain have kept faith with their current options. “We haven’t changed the goalkeepers because we understand that they are special positions and need to be treated differently, but I insist that we have three other impressive goalkeepers besides Unai.”
For Raya, that leaves a fairly clear picture. Spain’s manager is not questioning his quality. If anything, he is arguing that the Arsenal goalkeeper is underrated in the debate.
Simon remains the benchmark, but de la Fuente’s comments suggest Raya is firmly regarded as one of the strongest alternatives in the squad. Raya may not be Spain’s undisputed first choice, but he is clearly viewed as a goalkeeper of the highest level.