Arthur Okonkwo has been singing the praises of Arsenal teammate Bernd Leno.
It has been a difficult season for the Germany international in North London.
He finished last season as Arsenal’s number one and even started the 2021-22 campaign with the same status.
However, Mikel Arteta dropped him for Aaron Ramsdale after the Gunners’ disastrous first three Premier League games of the season and Leno has only managed one top-flight appearance since then.
Overall, the Spanish manager has only used Leno twice in 2022 but, despite falling out of favour in a major way, Okonkwo, also a goalkeeper, claims that the former Bayer Leverkusen stopper hasn’t changed one iota behind the scenes at London Colney.
He told Goal.com: “He’s been amazing. He hasn’t once changed his character or the way he has trained.
“Day in, day out, he’s still good around everyone. He’s still the same Leno I knew last season and that shows me a lot from a learning point of view.”
Heading off?
Honestly, Leno didn’t do a lot wrong to lose his Arsenal place but, by the same token, you can’t say Arteta has done anything wrong either.
That’s because Ramsdale has been simply sensational following his summer move from Sheffield United and has won the Gunners a lot of points, almost single-handedly at times.
There’s a good chance that he’ll make the Premier League Team of the Year this season, providing he has a steady last five games of the campaign, and that’ll make Leno feel a little better, that he wasn’t dropped for a disaster of a goalkeeper.
In any case, it’s very probable that Leno will be leaving Arsenal this summer – and he’s already hinted at it this month.
With Matt Turner coming in from the MLS, and players like Okonkwo improving all the time, there might be no room for the German at London Colney beyond this season.
But going by his teammate’s comments, he’ll be professional right up until the very, very end.
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