After Arsenal gave Bernd Leno their public backing last summer, you could forgive Mikel Arteta, Edu and co if they were feeling a little peeved on Wednesday afternoon.
The former Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper has just two years left on his contract at the Emirates.
And, when asked about life in North London, it’s fair to say Leno didn’t exactly commit his future to a club who have stood by him like a loyal hound, shielding the under-fire glovesman from such fierce criticism while selling Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa.
Fuel, meet fire.
“I am very happy at the club, I don’t know what will come in the future. But I am open to everything. Maybe for a new adventure or to stay at Arsenal,” Leno said, via the Standard.
When you consider that Martinez was Arsenal through and through – only moving to Aston Villa in a £20 million deal when it became clear that first-team football was not guaranteed at a club he joined back in 2012 – Leno’s apparent wanderlust feels like something of a slap in the face.
It is not as if the 29-year-old has slammed down a transfer request on Edu’s desk.
But, with Arsenal trudging towards another mid-table finish, European qualification far from guaranteed, it seems Leno is in no mood to nail his colours to the Gunners’ mast.
He is within his rights, of course, to wonder about the green-ness of the grass in other fields.
When Leno arrived in a £19 million deal three years ago, he was expecting Arsenal to be battling Manchester City, Liverpool and co at the peak of the Premier League, not challenging newly-promoted Leeds for a top-half finish.
The London giants, in truth, have not fulfilled their end of the bargain.
But if there was already a nagging feeling that Arsenal sold the wrong shot-stopper last summer, with the reliable Martinez outshining the erratic Leno throughout 2020/21, the German’s honesty won’t do his reputation among the Gunners fanbase much good.
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