Arsenal To Announce Signing Of German International In 24 Hours – Report

Arsenal look set to sign goalkeeper Bernd Leno…

Arsenal are reportedly close to announcing the signing of Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno having been in discussions with the German club in recent weeks, SportBild reports.

Exclusive: the official announcement of @Bernd_Leno at @Arsenal will be tomorrow @altobelli13 @SPORTBILD

— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) June 18, 2018

A goalkeeper was an area of concern last season and it seems Unai Emery has identified that area as one that needs strengthening immediately.

Leno was reported to have a £22million release clause in his contract and should we activate that clause, the 26-year-old would become the third most expensive goalkeeper in Premier League history.

It’s a significant outlay to part with for a goalkeeper and it seems Emery and Sven Mislintat believe the German international has what it takes to be our first choice goalkeeper.

Petr Cech did change his shirt number to No.1 last month, but that hasn’t meant much in the past given that our first-choice hasn’t worn that jersey for almost a decade.

Leno was part of the provisional 27-man Germany squad announced for the World Cup, but was left behind in the end alongside the likes of Leroy Sane as Joachim Lowe trimmed his squad down.

However, Leno did compete in the Confederations Cup last season in which he won as Germany defeated Copa America champions Chile.

If the report is accurate, it will be interesting to see if Leno is thrown straight into pre-season and where Emery ranks him.