Arsenal have warned that it will cost clubs £8.5m to prise Bernd Leno away from north London this summer.
The German shot-stopper began the season as Mikel Arteta’s no.1, but the arrival of Aaron Ramsdale, combined with Leno conceding 9 goals in the opening three games of the season, swiftly saw a change in the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium.
It was as much of a shock to Ramsdale as to the Arsenal supporters, with the English goalkeeper expected to challenge but not immediately replace Leno as he himself admitted recently.
Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno and Aaron Ramsdale at the final whistle following the Premier League match at Villa Park, Birmingham. (Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images).
‘I didn’t think when I signed that I’d be in straight away’, Ramsdale explained. ‘The manager was upfront with me and said ‘it might take you a year, it might take you six months but we don’t see you as a number two, it just depends on how the teams doing’.
However, with a World Cup rapidly approaching, and Leno having been dropped from the most recent Germany squad, it is clear that a departure for the 30 year old is on the cards this summer.
Leno asking price set
However, according to the Sun, current frontrunners Benfica may be forced to pull out of the race for Leno’s signature after being quoted £8.5m for his signature should they wish to make a move this summer.
Signed for £25m in 2019 from Bayer Leverkusen, the arrival of Matt Turner (announced in January) has left Leno deemed surplus to requirements at Arsenal, and they seem set to make a significant loss on the 30-year-old.
The German is not expected to be the only departure this summer, with Hector Bellerin, Nicolas Pepe, Pablo Mari, Lucas Torreira and Ainsley Maitland-Niles among those available should the correct offers be forthcoming.
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