Arteta fires back at Raya transfer critics after Peter Schmeichel's claim

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has responded to people who have criticised the Gunners' move for David Raya

Raya has joined the Gunners on a season-long loan, with the option to make the transfer permanent. The Spanish international will come in to compete with current no.1 Aaron Ramsdale, a deal that Manchester United icon Peter Schmeichel questioned earlier this month.

"I absolutely do not get it," Schmeichel told BBC Radio Five Live when discussing the 27-year-old's move to the Emirates Stadium. "I cannot understand how a manager can come to the conclusion that it's a great thing to have competition for the No 1 shirt.

"A goalkeeper's position is very reactive. You cannot create anything on your own, you have to wait for things to happen.

"You're now asking your goalkeeper to prove you're better than the other one. That means you now have to go and do stuff, and you don't want that. It's the one position on the pitch where you just want steady.

"When you have a competition situation he also plays that game for himself and for that position, and I don't get it. What you do is you put a lot of insecurity into the two of them."

But Arteta has rubbished these claims, arguing that Raya's arrival is necessary for Arsenal to compete at the highest level. "It's not a gamble, it's a necessity," Arteta said via the Daily Mail when asked if he was confident his squad would accept the so-called gamble of extra competition.

"There is not another way. The difference between tier one and what you call 'tier-two players' is too big. How do you resolve that? We can bring excellent players from the academy but unfortunately today we don't have somebody so ready to make that step.

"We have to create that environment. It's not a competition,