David Raya ‘within his rights to explore options’, says Brentford technical director Lee Dykes

Brentford technical director Lee Dykes said that in-demand goalkeeper David Raya is “well within his rights to explore his options”.

Raya, 27, has one year left on his contract and told The Athletic in February that he had turned down two contract offers from the club.

Dykes, who joined Brentford as part of their recruitment department in 2019, before being appointed technical director in the summer of 2020, has revealed that the club have long since had a contingency plan if Raya was to leave. 

Dykes told the Beautiful Game Podcast: “We sat in front of David and said if you go beyond us, that is the time for you to go. I think he is one of the best (goalkeepers) in the Premier League which makes him one of the best in the world. He is at a really good moment as a goalkeeper and he is well within his rights to explore his options. That is fine, no problem.

“We signed him in 2019. I’d seen him come through his loan spells in the lower leagues. He really developed at Blackburn (Rovers). Effectively, we have had a plan with him and we are okay with that. We will replace him if we need to replace him, or he will sign a new deal and stay with us. What will be will be. Same as Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbuemo, Ethan Pinnock, Aaron Hickey, and Rico Henry.

“We have to understand that at Brentford, like at Brighton & Hove Albion, there are bigger clubs out there that could potentially have homes for these players. We will always be in the mindset of if we helped them get to the top level, then we have played our part as long as the club are remunerated for any potential transfer. I watch him every day at training and he is top-level.”

Raya, who was born in Barcelona, joined Brentford in 2019 from Blackburn and has made 161 appearances for the west London side.

He was a standout performer for Thomas Frank’s side last season, featuring in all 38 of the club’s league games and recording 12 clean sheets.

Raya’s club form was rewarded with his first international appearance, starting the 2-1 victory over Albania in March of last year. 

Frank has previously been firm on the club’s £40million ($50m) valuation of Raya.

Raya has attracted Premier League interest from Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, and Chelsea and the club have already confirmed the signing of Netherlands international Mark Flekken from Freiburg last month.

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