Pundit Adrian Clarke has made a claim about Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s future amidst talk of a rebuild at the club.
The German shot-stopper, valued at £22.5m on Transfermarkt, hasn’t had the greatest season between the sticks, with his WhoScored rating of 6.52 in the Premier League and 5.94 in the Europa League ranking him 18th and 30th amongst Arsenal players this season respectively, not helped by some of his mistakes like those against Wolves and Rapid Vienna.
But with some suggesting that Arsenal need to go through a total rebuild in order to get back to be being competitive near the top of the table rather than languishing in mid-table, speaking on the Football Writers Podcast, Clarke thinks that whilst Leno could certainly do with being upgraded, there are far bigger problems that the club need to address first:
“Bernd Leno is about number eight in the list of problems for Arsenal. I feel that he is more than good enough to stay between the [sticks] but could Arsenal upgrade that position? Maybe? Bernd Leno is not the problem.”
Do Arsenal need to upgrade on Bernd Leno?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Adrian Clarke’s comments about Bernd Leno at Arsenal…
There is no denying that Arsenal can do better at the position, especially based on Leno’s displays this season. But given their pursuit of David Raya last summer, and then bringing in Alex Rúnarsson, who has had his own questionable displays, it could be argued that Leno’s place in the side may well be secure.
And considering the club’s financial issues, just how much they would be able to spend on a top-quality goalkeeper to upgrade the position – especially if it isn’t the priority – remains to be seen.
There might, therefore, not be a lot of good options left to choose from and they may end up being stuck with Leno again, which may be taking a risk, based on how he’s played this year.
In other news: ‘If he left now, I wouldn’t be surprised’ – Bacary Sagna drops big claim on Arsenal star