In our exclusive interview, the Arsenal legend discusses his former club's title chances, James Trafford's qualities, and who he feels will be the world's best goalkeeper in five years' time.
David Seaman believes Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya is still improving as the Gunners chase a second consecutive Premier League title.
Raya has won the Premier League Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets in each of the past three seasons and played a crucial part in their 2025/26 title win. Arsenal legend Seaman is full of praise for the Spanish goalkeeper, and has also backed manager Mikel Arteta to win multiple Premier League titles and the Champions League.
Arsenal are currently the favourites in the Premier League betting to lift the trophy again this season after another strong start. Arteta’s side are also considered among the frontrunners for the Champions League and the FA Cup, and Arsenal’s treble odds currently sit at around 48/1.
In our exclusive interview, Seaman also discusses Emi Martinez’s summer move to Chelsea, why James Trafford is the Premier League goalkeeper who most reminds him of himself, and makes some bold predictions for the years ahead, including who will be the best keeper in the world in five years’ time and who will be England’s No. 1 at Euro 2028.
Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League title. What’s harder – winning the first one or defending it the following season?
I would say getting the first one, and I think that was made even tougher for Arsenal because of what had happened in the three previous seasons. Finishing second three times added massive pressure. Everybody was using that as a negative against Arsenal.
When you look at what Mikel has achieved at Arsenal, finished eighth twice, then fifth, then second three times and winning the league, that is progression. That’s the process. So definitely getting that first one over the line is the hardest.
What’s the atmosphere like at the club when you go to the training ground to coach the young goalkeepers?
The atmosphere around the training ground is fantastic. You keep seeing all these different reminders, like lists of players and what they’ve won, and now you see 2026 on there. It’s really special.
A lot of it is business as usual, apart from when I go in because I keep reminding them that we are Premier League champions again. That’s one of the first things I said to Mikel – “congratulations, Premier League champions again!”
The best thing about it all is that every Arsenal fan has now seen us win the league, which is so special because 22 years is a long time for some people.
You’ve seen Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Max Dowman come through the Academy in recent years. Who will be the next young star to come out of Hale End?
There are a lot, trust me. There’s so much talent coming through. Even Marli Salmon, he’s the same age as Max Dowman, but because of Max he’s not getting the same headlines. He’s a really good player.
There’s a guy called Luis Muñoz. He’s been impressive, and he’s only 14 and played in the under-19s the other day and scored as well. Honestly, there’s more coming through, which is really good to see.
What happens is that when they’re that good, all of a sudden they get taken by their first team, so you don’t see them as much because they’re actually training with the first team all the time. It happened with Max last year – we didn’t really see him apart from when he would sometimes drop down and play for the under-18s.
Were you surprised Arsenal didn’t bring in another attacking signing over the summer, other than Christos Tzolis?
A little bit surprised they didn’t bring in maybe one more, but in Tzolis it looks like they’ve got a like-for-like replacement for Trossard, if not a little bit better. He’s still got a lot to prove because Trossard was capable of coming on as a big impact substitution and scoring some big goals.
Then obviously everybody still looks at the striker situation, and that’s a tough one because in Kai Havertz you’ve got a really intelligent footballer, but is he an out-and-out striker? He likes to drop off a lot more. Then with Viktor Gyokeres it’s weird because as soon as he goes away with Sweden, he scores goals. Maybe we don’t play to his strengths as much as we should. You know he can score goals, he’s proven it, it’s just that he’s not been getting the chances.
Emi Martinez was arguably the biggest goalkeeper signing of the summer window. Where do you rank him among the best keepers in the Premier League?
He’s right up there. He’s a World Cup winner, and he obviously got to the World Cup final again. He’s a proper goalkeeper and I thought he was a great signing for Chelsea because they need consistency in goal. They didn’t get that from Sanchez. They would get brilliant saves but then a massive mistake. I thought Martinez was a great signing but then they started letting goals in for fun, so the question mark there is about the defence.
Martinez is like Marmite, people love him or hate him because of his style and his character. I saw him when he first came to Arsenal a long time ago. He signed as a 16-year-old and I was helping to coach with Tony Roberts, who was one of the young goalkeeping coaches there, and to see Emi was brilliant because he was so raw. He had obviously got talent and a big frame, but he needed a lot of coaching and that’s what Tony did. I had a few little inputs on things, but to see him go on and do what he’s done has been great, and he’s proven how good he is.
Does being a showman on the pitch like Martinez help some goalkeepers perform?
You’ve got to be yourself. When you look at all these different characters and different styles of goalkeeping, you’ve got to be yourself. I was calm and laid back and although in my head all sorts was going on, but I was trying to let my defenders know that I was calm, which hopefully helped them stay calm. But then you look at Peter Schmeichel, and he was always shouting and arguing with everybody.
You look at Jordan Pickford, who is a totally different goalkeeper. It seems like he’s on edge all the time, because he’s always got to do something, but it brings the best out of him. That’s how he keeps goal.
Someone like James Trafford is very calm, and I saw him in the England game and was really impressed. It was a good test for him, but he was really calm, and when I look at him, I see a lot of my style in his goalkeeping.
When he makes a save, he’s not up and celebrating if it’s an average save. He doesn’t make camera saves, where goalkeepers make it look harder than it should be.
That’s what I see in David Raya now – the calmness. He said himself he found it a little bit difficult when he first took over from Aaron [Ramsdale], because of the pressure of coming from Brentford. He’s turned that around massively and even now, he’s still getting better.
How good do you think Trafford can be now that he’s settled in as the No. 1 for Leeds?
This is great for him, because now a new manager has put his belief in him. When he went to City, he played a few games and then they bought Donnarumma, which was a massive kick in the teeth for him. To spend all that time being the number two was tough for him.
But now Daniel Farke has got belief in him, got him to Leeds, and we’re seeing a goalkeeper now who is gaining confidence and experience. Thomas Tuchel showed belief in him, put him in for the game against Spain, the World Cup winners. That’s massive, it’s a big test, and he just handled it as though he was playing for the reserves. It was great to see him so calm in a big game like that.
I’m more than happy that he’s at Leeds, obviously, and now we need to watch this space because it’s time for him to put pressure on Jordan.
What’s one quality that a young goalkeeper must have to make it to the top level?
They need to be so mentally tough. If you’re playing for Arsenal, you should know that you’re good because you’ve got to that level. Now it’s about whether you can deal with all the stresses that come with it and then still play your game.
Pressure is massive in every sport, but whether you can handle it is especially important when you’re a goalkeeper because you could play great for 89 minutes, make one mistake and everyone remembers that. Or you can make a mistake in the first minute – can you then carry on playing your game? It’s about being so mentally strong and mentally tough, to perform under that pressure.
What’s the biggest myth about goalkeeping?
“You shouldn’t get beaten at your near post”. It drives me bananas. That is such an old-fashioned saying.
You can’t get beaten at the near post? OK, I’ll just stand on my near post and there’s about seven yards of space on the other side that you can score in, but that’s fine! That’s a myth that needs to go.
If you could have the best goalkeeper in the world or the best striker in the world, which would you choose?
I’ve got to be honest – you’ve got to have a good striker. You’ve got to score goals and you’ve got to be able to defend a lead. A clean sheet is OK, but that’s only going to get you one point. So I must admit, scoring goals and having a good striker is a massive necessity.
There have been some controversial decisions even at this early stage of the season. If you had the chance, would you scrap VAR?
I still think it’s a positive, but there are a few things I don’t like about it. I think now they’re getting involved too much. Let the referee ref again, because they’ve got to the stage where they’re not giving decisions because they’re not sure. I think if they didn’t have the backup of VAR, they would make a decision.
I think that offside needs tweaking. I was talking to Arsene Wenger about his version of offside that they’re trying out in Canada, where if there’s daylight then it’s offside. I quite like that, as it means there will be more goals and if the centre-forward has gone too far and too early, then it’s down to the centre-forward not being intelligent enough. So I agree with Arsene on that.
They’re sometimes just getting a little bit too involved in the normal running play.
I was at a Premier League conference and they had got the VAR there, and they were inviting people to come over ref incidents. They had got all the cameras, all the angles, and it was really, really impressive. Trying to make that decision quick puts you under pressure.
I asked them if there have been any ex-players being educated to step up, because the VAR guys miss the issues where it’s not a red card, and they think it is because they’ve freeze framed the studs on somebody’s shin. An ex-player can tell that it’s not deliberate, and shouldn’t be a red card. You can’t teach that experience, because ex-players have seen those in games and in training.
What’s your boldest prediction for the Premier League season?
Leeds getting into Europe.
How many trophies will Arsenal win this season?
I feel one is easily achievable, so I’d like to see us win multiple. For Arsenal, it’s about continuing to win trophies, no matter what trophy it is. You’ve got the Premier League over the line, that’s off our back now, so can you keep doing that?
Back in my day, in 1991, we won the league in my first season and it wasn’t until seven years later that we won it again. But in between that, we won the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Cup Winners’ Cup.
Keep adding trophies to your team photo. I remember after we did the first double, we had the Premier League, the FA Cup and even the Community Shield in our team photo. That was our treble!
It’s about winning and carrying on that momentum. I know for sure that the club would love to win the Champions League because we’ve never done it, and then you’re creating history.
Where does that put Mikel? He’s done so much at the club, he’s got the club back where he belongs, but he still needs and deserves more trophies.
When Mikel Arteta leaves Arsenal, how many Premier League titles will he have won?
I would like to have seen him win three or four, and maybe a Champions League as well, because he deserves that for the work that he’s put in. When it wasn’t going very well at Arsenal and there was a lot of criticism, there were a lot of people questioning the process. I was always positive and I could see on the training ground all the work that he was doing, and now people are seeing that.
I’m so glad that he signed the new contract because he adds stability to the club. The players like to see the same manager because you know where you stand with him. We’ve all seen it on the on the documentaries – the players are used to him and how he is in the dressing room, and they know how much he demands of them.
His contract is until 2030, so I’ll predict two more Premier Leagues and a Champions League.
Who is one player who will be in England’s Euro 2028 squad who people may not expect at this stage?
Max Dowman. Honestly, I’ve seen him train, I’ve seen him play, and when you see him on that football pitch he looks like a man. He’s a special talent. When you see him off the pitch you remember that he’s still just 16.
But that’s the beauty of it –he is still just 16, but he’s playing like a man, and he must already be close to getting in that England squad.
You’ve got to be careful about how much game time he is getting, because as good as he is, he still needs to like to come on and have an effect as a sub. Mikel is managing that perfectly because he’s with him in training day in, day out, and he knows what he’s got. Sometimes he’ll drop down into like the under-21s or the under-18s, so his development is being looked after really well.
In a few years’ time he’s definitely going to be up there because he’s just so special. The only thing is he’s got so much talent in front of him in that position, with Noni [Madueke] and Bukayo [Saka], but we all know what he’s capable of.
Who do you think will be England’s No. 1 at Euro 2028?
That’s going to be close. When you at Jordan and what he’s done for England, you’re not really expecting him to be left out. But James is going to be pushing him now, and this is what he needs. Now Trafford’s playing for Leeds regularly, and he’s been given the nod by Tuchel to show that he trusts him against the world champions. That was a massive boost of confidence for James Trafford. We saw a goalkeeper that’s very capable of performing at that level.
I’m 50/50, if I’m honest, and that’s because of how highly I rate James Trafford. Jordan’s level is up there because of what he’s doing for England, and he’s now doing it more regularly for Everton as well
It wasn’t his best World Cup, he knows that, but he’s still got all that experience. Now it’s about seeing how he can perform when there’s a real contender.
Who will be the best goalkeeper in the world in five years’ time?
I think of Donnarumma, because he’s only 27. It’s ridiculous, because he’s been around forever.
What I see of him at Man City, I really like. He’s a big, tall guy, and when I was in the tunnel at Arsenal v Man City, he walked past me and I was like, “wow”. I like the way he keeps goal. He dominates his area.
But then, don’t count out David Raya, even though he’s not even Spain’s No. 1. I can’t get my head around that, because he’s so good. I can’t see how Unai Simon is so much better than David, but it’s just a manager’s preference. But if David keeps improving like he is doing, then he’ll be up there as well.
