Despite the World Cup currently dominating the headlines, Arsenal will be busying themselves with the transition from the 20-year tenure into a new management system that will see former PSG, Sevilla, Spartak Moscow and Valencia boss Unai Emery try to guide the Gunners back into the top four spots.
Arsenal will be using the shadow of the world cup to get active in the transfer market, and there have been a few comings and goings, notably the departure of one-time wonderkid Jack Wilshere. There’s also plenty of rumours floating around the Emirates, with Sampdoria’s Lucas Torreira the latest name to be linked to the North London Club.
Swiss right sided utility player Stephan Lichtsteiner has already been drafted in to provide some experience at right back, and Emery looks like he’ll be changing Arsenal’s setup completely by signing the 34 year old who earned the nickname ‘Forrest Gump’ for his running ability.
Indeed, Arsenal’s list of targets will be very long, with a shake up ahead of the start of the season in less than 2 months’ time fully expected. Arsenal have underachieved for the last 2 seasons in the league, and both fans and the owners want to see better investments, and better performances from the players under the new manager.
One key area where Arsenal really looked shaky throughout the 2017/18 campaign was between the goalposts, with veteran Petr Cech finally looking like he had had enough of saving Arsenal’s bacon every week. The 36-year-old Czech is no doubt a great goalkeeper on a good day, but the last 2 season’s haven’t seen any real consistency, or nearly the level of achievement he reached at Chelsea.
Although he certainly wasn’t the worst keeper in the league with 11 clean sheets last term, Arsenal will need a keeper on the level of Hugo Lloris or David de Gea if they want to get back to Champion’s League football, and a fresh face at the back looks like it will provide a foundation for a much improved defence.
With Liverpool in the same boat, attracting a world-class goalie to the Emirates was a tough ask, but there were few alternative options that might just suit Emery’s tactics and overall strategy at Arsenal. Away from the Jan Oblak’s and Allison’s that Liverpool are trying to get signatures from, Arsenal look are gambling on 26 year Germany and Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who is joining Arsenal fresh off the back of another successful season at the BayArena.
With a £20 million deal agreed just days ago, Leno will be following Lichtsteiner into Emery’s new system, and potentially replacing Cech as first choice if he decides that it’s time for a new challenge elsewhere. Either way, Leno looks like he could be a great choice as both a number one or backup, with plenty of experience under his belt and a career that has been pretty successful so far.
Leno started his football career at Stuttgart, before being snapped up by Leverkusen after a successful loan spell. Leno was soon entering the record books, becoming only the third keeper ever to manage three clean sheets on his first three Bundesliga appearances, and in the 2011-2012 season he became the youngest ever German goalkeeper to play in a Champion’s League match, aged 19 years and 193 days when Leverkusen took on Chelsea. A Contract extension to 2018 soon followed, and he made his 200th appearance in a Leverkusen shirt earlier this year.
Leno has had plenty of links to top flight clubs both in Germany and internationally over the last few years, but it looks like the new opportunity at the Gunners was too much of a chance to turn down. The speculation has been ongoing for a few weeks now, and has been riding high on gossip columns, despite Leno not managing to find a spot in Germany’s world cup squad. But at the ripe old age of 26, Leno has plenty of time ahead of him to grab the attention of Joachim Low (or the attention of the head coach who replaces him if Germany continue at this pace).
Arsenal’s summer may just be beginning to heat up as they confirm this promising young goalkeeper, and all eyes are now on the rumoured approach for Sevilla and Argentina midfielder Ever Banega. With news stories pointing to Banega’s agent arriving in London as the Argentine desperately attempts to help Argentina to avoid world cup defeat, this tenacious and exciting could be on his way to reuniting with former manager Emery, and plugging the gigantic gap in Arsenal’s central midfield that hasn’t been the same since Patrick Viera left the club many, many years ago.
Keeping up with the rumours surrounding Arsenal’s future may sound tough with so many news stories and attention-grabbing headlines clogging up the real Gunner transfer news, but with Transfer Hound, finding out the hottest news and expected transfers is easy.
By summarising and ranking trending transfer news stories and following stories from football experts, insiders and official announcements, readers can easily see straight through the not so reliable tabloid speculation. There are also handy sections on the site covering completed deals and transfer statistics, so you can see the new signings at your team or who has been busiest during the summer transfer window.
Bernd Leno was indeed riding the Transfer Hound Hot-o-Meter in the build up to his transfer, and it looks like Willian and Jack Wilshere could be the next big-name transfers of the summer after popping up on the heat scale.
Next season is a huge one for the Gunners, and Leno will really have to hit the ground running if he’s expected to replace Cech as first choice, or indeed step up for FA / League cup games, or indeed in the Europa League. With a lot of expectation on the new manager and the fans desperate for some more inspiring football after a few years of woe with Wenger at the helm, hopefully Leno will provide a foundation for a new Arsenal team that can assess its demons and get back to success.
