Go back to the Covid summer of 2020, to the final game at Griffin Park, a play-off semi-final win over Swansea, and as Brentford’s dressing-room celebrations echo quietly around an empty ground, David Raya returns to the field to cut himself a section of the net he has guarded all season.
Had things turned out a little differently, that souvenir of the old ground’s farewell might just as easily have come to be one of his own. Later the same summer, Arsenal made their first move for the goalkeeper, a series of bids around £10million rejected, even with Brentford preparing for another season in the Championship. Three years on, the Gunners finally have their man.
