David Raya sings the praises of Unai Simón and puts the chatter about competition to rest

When the last whistle blew after the Spain‑England friendly in London, Brentford’s own keeper David Raya didn’t rush to the locker room for a quiet debrief. Instead, he lingered on the pitch, turning to the cameras with a grin that was half‑smile, half‑thoughtful sigh.

“Unai is a class act,” Raya said, his voice a little louder than the background din. “He’s calm, he reads the game like a book you’ve read a hundred times, and he makes the tough saves look easy.” He added a quick chuckle, as if to soften the admiration with a touch of friendly banter.

The comment came after Simón produced a series of acrobatic stops that left the crowd humming with approval. It wasn’t just the saves that impressed Raya; it was the way Simón organized the defence, shouted commands, and kept his cool when the ball was thumping around the box.

“He talks to the back line, tells them where to be, and it just works,” Raya continued. “You see that kind of confidence, and it rubs off on everyone around you.”

But the interview wasn’t all about praise. Over the past few weeks, the Spanish press had been buzzing about a potential “goalkeeper duel” between Simón and fellow Spaniard David de Gea, with some pundits even suggesting a split‑room scenario for the upcoming Euro 2024. Raya, who has been monitoring the situation closely, was quick to downplay the drama.

“All this talk about a rivalry is just noise,” he said, waving a hand as if shooing away flies. “When you’re on the training ground, you’re not thinking about headlines, you’re thinking about the next ball. Both Unai and David are great professionals, and the coach will decide what’s best for the team.”

Raya’s own experience adds weight to his words. The Spanish‑born goalkeeper, who moved to England as a teenager, knows the pressures of being compared and contrasted. He recalled his own early days at Brentford, when whispers about his place in the starting XI floated around the club.

“I remember people talking, ‘Will he be the first‑choice?’, ‘Who’s better?’ – and you just focus on training,” Raya admitted. “That’s how you grow, not by feeding the media circus.”

Fans of Brentford and Barcelona alike have taken to social media, echoing Raya’s sentiment. Some even posted memes of Raya and Simón sharing a virtual high‑five, captioned “Goalkeeper’s club – no drama, just clean sheets.”

In the end, Raya’s message is simple: respect the talent, keep the conversation about performance, and let the coaches sort out any internal competition. As the Euro 2024 draw approaches, the Spanish camp will likely keep its focus on the pitch, just as Raya does every day.