Brentford close in on new goalkeeper amid David Raya uncertainty
Brentford are close to agreeing a deal to sign Freiburg goalkeeper Mark Flekken ahead of the potential departure of David Raya, 90min understands.
The Bees have secured a first-ever Premier League top-half finish with two games to spare and are still in the race for a Europa League or Conference League place.
They are pressing ahead with plans for the 2023/24 season and are closing in on their first signing of the summer, with sources telling 90min they are nearing an agreement with Netherlands international Flekken, who has a release clause in the region of €13m.
Though they are expected to add Flekken to a goalkeeping group that also contains ex-Lazio stopper Thomas Strakosha, Brentford are adamant they will not sell the in-demand Raya unless the price is right and he could leave on a free transfer next summer instead.
Raya, who is now a regular in Spain's setup despite never having played in his home country, has announced himself as one of the Premier League's best goalkeepers since Brentford's promotion in 2021.
Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in Raya - 90min revealed on Tuesday that he is not the only current member of the Brentford setup on Spurs' radar - though both see Inter's Andre Onana as their preferred goalkeeper target. The Spaniard could end up signing for whichever club misses out on the Cameroonian.
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Head coach Thomas Frank has repeatedly insisted that the Bees would only entertain offers of £40m for Raya, even though he has just one year left to run on his contract and has publicly stated he has turned down two fresh offers.
Speaking to The Athletic in February, Raya revealed why he turned down these deals.
"I turned down two contracts, one last year and one this January. They weren't the offers we were looking for. I can only say that," he said.
"I want to focus on playing games and not think too much about my future. I have a contract here, so I'm willing to finish that, but you never know what's going to happen in the summer. Maybe the club wants to sell, maybe not. Maybe I want to stay. I want to focus on football and see what happens.
"The club will decide the price and if a club wants to pay money, that will be it. I'm not worried about that. I’m not in charge of that.
"I have big ambitions. I want to play in Europe and I want to fight to win a title. I want to fight to win a European title. I trust myself to be able to play in those types of games."
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On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss all the latest transfer news. On the agenda: Aurelien Tchouameni, Lionel Messi, Moises Caicedo, Rafael Leao, Kim min-Jae, David de Gea, Dusan Vlahovic and more.
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