Arsenal and Brentford's David Raya transfer explained amid retained list confusion

Both Arsenal and Brentford have confirmed their retained lists after the Premier League season came to an end last month.

The Bees were quick to announce their list on May 19 where they confirmed Neal Maupay and Sergio Reguilon would be returning to their parent clubs Everton and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Meanwhile, the Gunners waited a little longer to announce their list which was confirmed on Monday.

Unlike Brentford, they did not mention their loan player Raya in their list despite him being a player who technically should be departing at the end of the season. When the deal was announced last August, it was confirmed that the loan deal included an option to buy the player in Arsenal's favour for a £27m fee.

This was not an obligation and Brentford could still keep their 'keeper if the Gunners decided not to keep Raya. However, this is unlikely considering the Spaniard was involved in Arsenal's kit launch just a few weeks ago.

So what is happening with the transfer? Well, Raya's season-long loan deal officially ends on June 30, so because Raya still has a year left on his contract at Brentford, he is at this stage classed as 'retained'.

However, once we head into July we can expect Arsenal to announce they have completed the signing of Raya on a permanent basis now he is no longer contracted as a loan player at the club. Mikel Arteta has insisted that talk of signing Raya permanently would be for 'after the season'.

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But, as mentioned, if Raya was not expected to be at the Emirates Stadium next season, he would not have been used in the promotional material for the new kit. It is widely expected, therefore, that the transfer is a mere formality.