At the age of 35 and soon to be 36, Petr Cech looks like he is on his way out from Arsenal very soon. With a mixed overall season and several painful mistakes, it is believed that the North London club are now searching for his replacement in the upcoming transfer window.
26-year-old Bernd Leno is a wanted man by several clubs across Europe with Napoli, Athletico Madrid and Arsenal all trying to sign the in-form German keeper.
In a recent statement, a representative of Leno’s ruled out Napoli as a transfer option saying: ‘I can confirm that there were negotiations with Naples, which we canceled. Naples is not an option,’ with this in mind the Mirror claim that it is now a two-horse race between Arsenal and Athletico Madrid to sign the keeper.
The Bayer Leverkusen keeper stands at 6’2 and is often hailed as one of the top goalkeepers currently playing in the Bundesliga. This season alone Leno has kept 10 clean sheets from 33 appearances. At 26 years old he is still relatively young for a goalkeeper who often develop much later in their career than a lot of outfield players.
According to the German outlet, Bild, Leno views Arsenal as an ‘ideal’ place for him to go. It is believed by several sources that Leno’s buy-out clause lies somewhere in the £20-£25m range but this number may rise given the increasing demand for his services.
As Arsenal continue their search for a new first team goalkeeper, other candidates such as the 25-year-old Athletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak, and Southampton’s 28-year-old Alex McCarthy are still on the table yet it seems that Leno is the most promising option as we draw closer to the transfer window.
It remains to be seen whether splashing the cash on a new first team goalkeeper is the right move, and some fans might are wondering what will be the future of David Ospina, who seemed like a bright spark on few occasions this season.
