Arsenal's Financial Fair Play trouble prevented David Raya from signing permanently in the summer but the Gunners beat interest from Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich to land the goalkeeper.
That is according to the goalkeeper's agent, who also confirmed Arsenal failed to sign Raya from Brentford two seasons ago before moving on to Aaron Ramsdale - the keeper Raya has now displaced at the club.
"Arsenal showed interest for the first time three years ago in 2021. They tried to buy him but Brentford didn’t want to sell him at any price," Munell told AFTV.
"After they bought Ramsdale that was an easier option but David has always been the priority.
"This summer, he had just one year left on his contract with Brentford and Arsenal was the club that showed the most concrete interest and have always been our priority.
"Tottenham also was interested and made an official bid but it was refused because was lower than the €40m [£34.9m] that Brentford wanted to sell him, also Bayern Munich was interested and had an amazing offer but with no buy option included and for this reason, we’ve not accepted it.
"Bayern Munich didn’t understand our refusal because they thought that Raya would have been the backup keeper at Arsenal but as you can see it’s not like this. Also Manchester United and Chelsea made an inquiry but nothing concrete."
He added: "The formula of the deal is a loan with the option to buy, Arsenal had some Financial Fair Play issues and this is the reason why they haven’t bought him with a permanent transfer."
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta insisted upon Raya's arrival both his goalkeepers could rotate, even suggesting in-game substitutions, but the Spaniard has quickly taken Ramsdale's starting berth in both the Premier League and Champions League.
Munell says Raya had no qualms over moving to Arsenal despite Ramsdale seeming to be clear first choice between the sticks, and goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana was "key" to his decision.
He continued: "Arsenal is a team with a lot of quality and a lot of young players trained by a top coach Mikel Arteta, they have maximum ambition. Arsenal have a clear identity, and a clear style of play that really works, as you can see by the results.
"Last year they were close to winning the Premier League, I believe that this year they can win it and try to win the Champions League, it’s tough but they have the quality and the ambition to try to do it.
"Inaki and Arteta were key for the deal, they have been determined for the choice that we made to play for Arsenal, the club have a project and a philosophy that fit completely for David."
