The Arsenal goalkeeper should be excited by transfer rumours swirling around.
A goalkeeper is only as good as the defence in front of him and, well, Arsenal’s Bernd Leno could probably be protected a little better.
The German stopper hasn’t had a world-class back four ahead of him during his two-year stint in North London.
In fairness, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has whipped the defence into shape, and the likes of Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi and David Luiz are defending a little better.
But there’s still major personnel changes needed to stop the Gunners from leaking the sort of silly goals that they have been doing throughout Leno’s spell at the Emirates Stadium.
And if rumours are believed, Arteta plans on doing just that.
According to The Mirror, Arsenal want West Ham United’s Issa Diop and Sport in Spain claim that Samuel Umtiti is also on their radar.
A double deal like that, combined with William Saliba’s arrival in the summer, would mean that Leno could go from having a historically-shaky defence in front of him to a very, very decent one.
Umtiti is struggling at Barcelona, but he’s still at Barcelona. Diop is one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs, evident by the fact Jose Mourinho called him a ‘monster’ in 2018 [The Standard]. And Saliba, who turns 19 next week, commanded a £27 million price-tag last summer.
If you’re Leno, you’ve got a big smile on your face if there’s the prospect of playing behind that back-three for the next few years.
It offers him far better protection than he’s accustomed to in England and maybe, just maybe, the German’s own form would spike, too.
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