Bernd Leno told reporters that he was open to a new challenge away from Arsenal Football club when talking to reporters on Wednesday, and I can’t deny that I’m shocked by the audacity of it.
Our club showed our loyalty to the German in the summer by choosing to offload Emi Martinez, and Leno has since failed to live up to that.
Leno’s performances have left a number of pundits and fans to believe that the club made the wrong decision on which goalkeeper should be Arsenal’s number one, and now the 29 year-old is publicly claiming he is open to leaving?
I sincerely hope that he has been told by the management that his level of performances so far this season have been below-par, or that he has been told that we are on the lookout for a stronger rival for the number one jersey, which would give Leno a reason to make such comments.
He said on Wednesday in the pre-match press conference (via Arsenal.com): “I know that I still have two years left on my contract and I’m also 29. For a goalkeeper, that’s not too old. I’ve still got some years to go.
“I’m very happy at the club. I don’t know what will come in the future, but I’m open to everything. Maybe for a new adventure or to stay at Arsenal. Like I said, I don’t think about my future because two years is a long time. At the moment there are no conversations with the club or anything else.
I’m furious that he has had the audacity to tell a press conference that he is open to leaving the club, whether that is to try and gain an advantage in talks over a new deal or not.
Leno has so far failed to pay back the loyalty shown to him, and following his comments, I sincerely hope that the club do move to bring in a new replacement in his place.
Am I alone in believing he should feel indebted to us for our actions last summer?
Patrick
Leno was fantastic until his injury and Martinez stepping in. Since then I think all the talk(mainly from the fans) about how we kept the wrong keeper has probably gotten to him.
I’m not surprised really, our fans can be really pathetic. He didn’t make the choice to sell Emi, he didn’t force the coach to pick him as the number one once fit again. He needed the support of the fans, nothing that happened was down to him so why bad mouth him continuously.
I’d also want to leave if most fans and pundits kept on for months about how I should’ve been the one to leave. Very clear that’s when he became a shaky keeper.
Well said ,should have read your post before posting below
So lets now blame the fans for a professional player being exposed as average and shaky.
Everyday I learn something new on the internet.
Smh
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He obviously doesn’t have a good competitor this season. Another GK should play in cup games next season
Edu & co did a Gnabry when they sold Martinez instead of Leno.
So let’s blame the fans for Leno errors, some of you guys should be comedians.
@PJ most fans!?!? Arsenals fanbase is over 75 MILLION people but you somehow know that most fans feel this way because some people said it on here lol 😂 🤦♂️
The comprehension level on here is that of a 3rd grader, if that.
No one said it’s the fans fault lol, just that we might as well have supported the bloke.
It’s not too difficult to understand.
“I’d also want to leave if most fans and pundits kept on for months about how I should’ve been the one to leave”
Your words not mine, I said nothing about it being the fans fault… you implied most fans wanted him sold lol so clearly it’s much too difficult for you to even understand what you yourself wrote 🤦♂️
The trick is to silence critics by the way you perform. He has not done himself any favours by his mistakes. Leno and too many players on our team are not mentally strong.
PJ-SA, very sound analysis, which any sensible individual doesn’t need a degree in psychology to make.
Was a huge mistake selling EMI who commanded his box and was brilliant, esp for his height and stature, with corners and crosses.
He was excellent on his run with the 1st team after 10long years and won an FA Cup along the way being one of the heroes as we lifted that trophy. He was committed to Arsenal but Arsenal couldn’t be committed to him at the end of the day.
I’d take him back in a heart beat and we will regret this sell, if we haven’t already.
Leno may want to test the waters incase we do go out tonight as he wants to be in European competitions.
Amen to this one – completely right you are !
Emi is twice the goalkeeper Leno is. Leno is a great shot-stopper buy a useless boss of his penalty area. Martinez is a great shot stopper and the BOSS of his penalty area. Selling Martinez was just one of many cock ups Arteta has made.
I personally got the feeling at that time that Arteta was not a good talent evaluator. His ego forced his hand as Martinez was clearly expecting to be the starter at the beginning of the season and was making ‘noise’ about it. Leno was always a fantastic shot stopper, but Martinez was the package. That Arteta failed to appreciate this is an indictment of his incompetence.
How do you know that it was Arteta’s ego rather than the economics of selling Martinez?
Sure is we have Edu and Arteta to blame bad man managers what a cock up with Ozil and co now the players doubt him only way for him now is to leave he won’t last another year.
Blame the management, get proven coaches if they underperform give them their marching orders pronto.
Disappointed that Emi was sold. Should’ve made him 1st choice based on his last form for the club, and let Leno fight it out for 1st place. Would’ve kept 2 keepers then.
Maybe he’s seen the silly comments from some Arsenal fans not rating him and has took it personally maybe he feels he’s not appreciated and you can’t blame him TBH seeing what he’s done for the club in the 3 years we have signed him .
Hahaha. You lot are a funny crew.
So Leno playing poorly for most of the season he because of our fans? The ones that have not been in the stadium for a whole year now.
Or the ones on twitter? Yeah?
Has he even ever said that he is being abused on social media like the likes if Xhaka, Mustafi, Willian etc? Or you are just reaching for any strand of straw / excuse you can get your hands on just to cover for Leno’s poor showing this season?
What’s the excuse for Auba being poor this season?
😊
If I could understand what you was asking mate I would answer but I’m confused 🤷🏻♂️ to what the question is .
Not asking any questions, just freestyling like you. Coming up with convoluted / out of thin air stuff.
Like you did with your excuse that has absolutely no merit whatsoever.
“” Maybe he’s seen the silly comments from some Arsenal fans not rating him and has took it personally maybe he feels he’s not appreciated and you can’t blame him TBH seeing what he’s done for the club in the 3 years we have signed him.””
Just making up unfounded excuses for an underperforming Leno by blaming the low hanging fruit (fans).
🤦♂️
Cheers for clearing that up 🤷🏻♂️
Dan, Leno was rubbish before and after his injury. He was/is/will never be in the mould of Lehman or Oliver Kahn or even Manuel N. And the audacity to speak to the press indicates the rotten ego and ethics at the club at the moment and poor fella Mikel has a mountain to climb dealing with these type of players who think too high of themselves. Play Matt tonight and rest of the season if we have any pride to salvage. Transfer him this season and hire Matt and maybe Arsenal fan Alban Lafonte and we would be twice better than the nonsense Leno does on the pitch.
What games do you watch mate? Continue turning a blind eye to the brave saves leno has made to save our blushes… what about reflex saves that he has done in the past two seasons or so… We would have been throughly beaten by lowly teams with creaking scores eg Watford and Norwich (1st legs)and fought relegation if we had a useless keeper. Your head could be forever hidden in the sand never to come out again. Learn to appreciate and approve people’s efforts. This is a world class tested and proven keeper who we got on a bargain and we can’t get another who is better off at that price any time soon. Don’t throw away diamonds whilst looking for stones. Some Arsenal fans esp on Twitter should be expelled from supporting the club they are really ungrateful and yet can’t kick a ball themselves.!!! Outrageous!!!
I think events have demonstrated the superiority of Martinez over Leno, but perhaps someone can explain to me why the likes of Wenger and his assistants ,over years, failed to recognise the talent he had?I have been impressed with a number of young keepers this season, some of whom play in the Championship so it would not bother me if we sold Leno for say 25m .While he is a good shotstopper , he is not a commanding presence in the Falmouth area and never will be.
I don’t remember Arsenal playing in Falmouth 😁
You beat me to it Sean 🤣
As I learnt recently, the inventor of auto correct has died, and may he rust in piss.
Hilarious!😂
He’s open to everything – whether that’s staying with us or seeking pastures new – what’s wrong with that? Isn’t that the life of a footballer?
Why on earth this would bother most is beyond me as all I’ve read on here for god knows how long is how crap he is, get rid of him, we need better blah blah blah… so much for getting behind your team!! SMH…
Dan kit… it’s boner time 😄
Good one sue.Moreover he has just two years left on his contract and hasn’t been offered an extension. Am sure everyone of us on here would be wondering about there future at this point if they were to be in his shoes
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Yea sue the ones that talked about how good Martinez was for the last 10 years and how they wanted him as our number one .
I honestly thought he’d get a chance before cech was signed. Always thought that was a waste of money
I thought it was a waste also…
Add me to that list, given Arsenal bought no outfield players that season.
Well said Sue, saved me posting separately. Never rated Leno as a top keeper but the guy is just being honest and stating the obvious. Why should he feel indebted to the club, it was the Club’s choice to keep him. It could have gone the other way.
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Arteta instructs him to play out from the back and obviously he’s shit at that, not good at all. Why can’t he complain about the coach’ ineffective style than stick to it and jeopardise his commitment to the club?
Agree Sue, and anyone reading the article can see he DIDN’T say he wanted to leave, only that who knows the future. He’s as likely to be transfer listed as he is to ask to go. That’s why HE DOESN’T know. I thought Leno was the one with English as a second language, but no, its our readers, interpreting it as an insult because it suits them. I’m pretty fed up with both the article and some of the comments.
👍 Spot on, Guy…. and yes some of the comments really irk me!
Goal mouth not Falmouth.
There’s nothing wrong with Leno’s statement. If an employer can fire an employee anytime, the employee also has the right to leave
Leno just needs a strong internal competition next season. However, I’m worried about his confidence tonight, because he showed the lack of it in Sheffield
He should’ve caught the ball more often in the last few games, instead of punching it. Hopefully he won’t make many wrong decisions today
You sell a true Arsenal player and replace him with an average GK
Look at how Leno leaks goals
Congrats Arteta
Unsurprisingly Patrick, I feel you have got this innocent if somewhat naive remark from LENO completelyand deliberately wrong.
I believe you are not at all furious but are simply pretending to be.
I also firmly believe, that as a key part of this site, where you are constantly charged with coming up with new articles to write, almost all of them unworthy of being called TRULY WORTHWHILE, you have once again put your own prejudiced personal spin on an unremarkable simple reply to a question.
It is because of people who act just like you, who choose to deliberately misconstrue innocent comments, that so many players these days choose to say nothing of any consequence to journalists or reporters.
A more honest interpretation would have been helpful, though unexpected (as has been borne out).
Be careful Jon i know a couple of people who were banned for bringing up and discussing the exact same points(the quality the numbers of daily articles needed…)it seems to be a very touchy subject.
You’re banned lol
SIAMOIS , I have ben banned several times for being too truthful for this sites sensibilities . Other fans have been too, though some are quite rightly banned for being foul mouthed and some , a very tiny few, even for being Neanderthal racists!
Though to be fair to AdminPat, he is less draconian these days than he once was. I suspect the advent of Covid and all the general comments that has entailed has loosened his restrictions. And long may that greater freedom to speak truth remain. I am always conscious that this site is, overall, a great force for good in allowing and enabling freedom(mostly) of speech.
AD PAT MAY EVEN BE SURPRISED TO KNOW HOW POSITIVE AN OPINION I HAVE OF HIM, DESPITE OUR ROWS IN PRINT. I HAVE NEVER HELD GRUDGES AND I THINK THE SAME APPLIES TO PAT.
lol Jon – read yours after I posted my almost identical comment above!
It’s what you guys always do. I hate to say that I hate Arsenal fans because I am one but you guys are the reason our players are poor. you moan about everything they do and never give them the right support. Any player that wants to leave should leave and he has my full support. When did Martinez become that good and was he able to dispatch Sczezny or Fabianski whom you guys rated poorly until they left for Juve and West Ham respectively. it’s only when a player leaves that you know he’s good. get a life please
We fans don’t coach them, so we’re not to blame for their shameful displays. Then what have you to say about chelsea fans, who criticises any form of deliberate failure and yet their club succeeds?
It will be a win win situation for the two parties. He has served the club and I believe the club owe him some respect and titles to show for his dedication. For me he carried us the most, and it normal to have bad days at work, you can’t be perfect all the time. Considering the fact he is not getting any younger and for now Arsenal seems not to be really ambitious I think he is right to talk about his future.
We for sure sold the wrong goalkeeper and by far too. I have said it for a few years now that Martinez would become a VERY good goalkeeper if not world class. And Leno is far from good enough f.x. coming out of goal in corner kicks and balls coming in the box from free kicks he looks like a boy amongst men. But he is ok between the sticks doing reaction safes but is that enough for our club ?
And for Sczezny I always suported him and knew we maid a mistake leting him go.
We care passionately about Arsenal Football Club, and if we were involved in any capacity would stay for life – it’ in our blood.
I would like to think our players feel the same.
Sadly not the case.
Some do, some don’t.
Leno spoke in a press conference regarding his options AFTER the 2 remaining years of his contract, and the fact he’s very happy at the club.
Somehow to some, that translates to he wants out and he is the spawn of the devil ?
Anyone remember ;
2019 / 2020 –
“Fans have picked Bernd Leno as Arsenal’s second best player of the season with the German as integral at the back as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was at the other end”.
Bernd Leno is a top class goalkeeper only prevented from being the German number 1, by a certain Manuel Peter Neuer.
I agree with PJ-SA re’ the fallout from the “Martinez” affair as being at least a factor in Leno not being as assured of late, and I concede that top players have to be a lot mentally stronger than that.
I also concede Leno needs much more competition for the shirt next season.
However, I was Leno then and remain so now.
“Hero to Zero” seems to occur very quickly at our place nowadays.
That last line – couldn’t agree more, A J 👍
It would be great seeing him far away from arsenal because he is currently arsenal’s number 2 problem after mikel arteta
I’m not sure that Leno has said very much at all. So he will weigh up his future in 2 years time. It’s not as if he’s just put in a transfer request
The indignation is daft to me.
What glasses are you wearing that make u see things so much clearer and hence simple to understand, which could have avoided these noise?
?
He’s not been good this season. We had the competition for GK position all set and then silly decisions were made and no matter what Leno does he knows he will be No. 1. If he’s not a serious player he’s another one who can go if he pleases.
Yes, yet another Arsenal cock up, Emi wanted and deserved No1 Leno obviously couldn’t give two turds and we sold the wrong keeper. We kept the worse of the two and he wants offski. Typical Arsenal and the way we are run.
If he really wants a new adventure he should try learning how to catch and kick a ball
I wonder, sometimes, if fans actually READ what is written and/or said.
Can anyone point out to me where Leno has said he wants to leave now – in fact he himself says he doesn’t know what will happen!!!
Patrick has just put a spin on a perfectly sensible answer to a question posed, in order to get click bait and it has worked… yet again.
It is only my opinion but I think Leno has lost his confidence and good form not because he is being undermined by fans criticism but because he is under so much pressure trying to play out from the back. He simply isn’t in my humble opinion a good enough footballer for that.
Well said Ken.
At no point did he actually say he wanted to leave, in fact clearly stating he is happy at the club right now.
Also , what mature person reveals their negotiating hand two years ahead of time – particularly at a press conference ?
I’ve watched the interview in full.
Leno says, and conducts himself , exactly how you’d expect in front of the press.
Your point in actually reading what is posted on here before posting a “knee jerk “ reaction is most valid.
HAS IT WORKED THOUGH Ken ? DO PLEASE READ MY COMMENT FURTHER UP WHERE I TELL IT AS IT IS , WHICH IS WHAT YOU ALSO SAY. This, like so many of Patricks efforts, is a total sham and not worthy to be called an article. He does not even believe what he says himself imo, which I said in no uncertain fashion. The fact it was not deleted by Pat tells me HE knows what I and you both say is true.
Once again, responding to hearsay and rumours. Martinez plays for Aston Villa now, the decision was made by player and Club’s. Why don’t we all support our players.
By the way the Croation National goalkeeper, who plays for Dinamo Zagreb, looked good against Villarreal.
We should buy Scezeney back
Leno is not suited for the way Arteta wants to play, isn’t that obvious? Great goalkeeper but isn’t the sweeper or passer we need.
You are making a mountain out of a molehill. In the football industry nothing is written in stone.