David Raya Martín was born on 15 September 1995 in Barcelona, Spain. He began his youth career at Cornellà before moving to England at the age of 17 to join Blackburn Rovers on a scholarship. After working his way through the academy and spending time on loan at non-league Southport, he established himself as Rovers' first-choice goalkeeper and made 108 appearances for the club, including a key role in their 2017–18 League One promotion.
Raya joined Brentford in July 2019 for a reported fee of around £3 million. He was central to the club's rise, helping them reach the Premier League for the first time in 74 years via the 2021 Championship play-off final. That season he attempted 300 more passes than any other Championship goalkeeper, reflecting a sweeper-keeper style that prizes distribution and a high defensive line as much as shot-stopping.
In August 2023 he moved to Arsenal on a season-long loan, making the switch permanent in July 2024. He won the Premier League Golden Glove in both the 2023–24 season (16 clean sheets outright) and 2024–25 (13 clean sheets, shared with Matz Sels), becoming only the third Arsenal goalkeeper to win the award. A particularly memorable moment came in March 2024 when he saved two penalties in a Champions League shootout against Porto, helping Arsenal reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010.
Raya made his senior international debut for Spain in March 2022 and was part of the squad that won UEFA Euro 2024, starting the decisive group-stage win over Albania. Arsenal regard him as a cornerstone of their long-term goalkeeping plans.