With Petr Cech and David Ospina unlikely to see much game time next season after their underwhelming displays this term, there is growing speculation in Germany that Arsenal are set to make a move for Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
According to the Daily Mirror the 26-year-old shot-stopper has called a halt to talks with Napoli and is now weighing up his options, with Arsenal and Atletico Madrid both on his tail.
Leno, who moved to Leverkusen from Stuttgart in 2011, has kept nine clean sheets in 30 Bundesliga appearances this season and he is expected to feature in Germany’s World Cup squad next month.
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The Mirror says that Arsenal are likely to be Leno’s preferred option because at Atletico he would struggle to displace Jan Oblak. So provided the Gunners meet his £22m release clause they will win the race to his signature.
That sum would represent just a fraction of what former Gunner Ray Parlour believes the club needs to fork out to get back into the big time.
In conversation with talkSPORT, Parlour was asked what Arsenal needed to spend to strengthen their squad. “I’d say they would need £200m, but a little bit more if they want to compete - £250m,” he stated. “The challenge for Arsenal’s new manager is to get back into the top four, and to do that you’ve got to have investment...[but] a big problem Arsenal are going to have this summer is attracting the big players, because they’re not in the Champions League.”
Perhaps that is why Arsenal are battling Huddersfield for the hand of Norway star Mohamed Elyounoussi.
The Sun says that the 23-year-old Basel winger has been scouted by Arsenal, Leicester and Southampton in recent months, and although he’s contracted to the Swiss side until 2021, the Morocco-born Elyounoussi could be sold if his £18m price tag is met and that is likely to spark a bidding war in the summer with Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg also interested.
