Kevin Campbell has urged Arsenal to get whatever they can from the sale of Bernd Leno if the German refuses to sign a new contract.
Leno’s inconsistent form forced Arsenal to sign Aaron Ramsdale in the last transfer window.
The Englishman is the long-term replacement for the Germany international and Mikel Arteta gave him his Premier League debut at the weekend and he helped Arsenal to secure their first league win and clean sheet against Norwich.
Leno is now facing a tough battle to remain number one at Arsenal and he might not agree to extend his contract at the club.
Campbell says it is not rocket science to see that Arsenal signed Ramsdale to make him their first choice.
This is because they will not spend all that money on a second choice goalie and he urges them to make as much money as they can from offloading Leno if the German leaves.
Campbell told Football Insider when asked of his opinion on the German’s future: “Take what you can.
“If Leno is not going to sign a new deal, the one thing you don’t do is diminish his price by not playing him at all this season. You have to be a little bit cuter.
“Let’s be honest though, Ramsdale has been brought in to be number one. You do not spend that kind of money on a second choice goalkeeper.”
I would tend to agree with KC
I just want the best gk on the pitch. I’m not going to rubbish Leno. I was just so surprised by EM in the way he took his chance when Leno got injured- and pleased because he showed desire. He wanted number 1 status. I very much doubt that Ramsdale fancies being no2 for anywhere near as long as Martinez so it could be interesting to see how the rivalry develops.
As long as the no1 gives the players in front of him the necessary confidence
Leno will be played in cup games and cover, so his value will drop because we didn’t sell him at the right time. If we had sold him a season ago we would have got 20 mil, we will struggle to get 10 mil jan or summer. Story of the present Arsenal.
that’s exactly what I’ve been saying ever since it was first suggested that we’ were willing to pay above the number for Ramsdale…classic asset mismanagement of the part of this organization once again…by the time all is said and done, I would suspect that the Ramsdale purchase will cost us a minimum of 40M, if he remains the lead Keeper and we have to sell Leno in the off-season with considerably less, if any, leverage
Evening Reggie
Could you please explain to this dullard –
a) Were there bidders at £20m or at all? Was he for sale?
b) There are more than a handful on JA who rave about Leno, so why the low valuation placed on him since Ramsdale arrived? By all accounts, he was overpriced anyway – along with pretty much most of our incomings – so Ramsdale is logically the second goalkeeper until or if he ousts Leno. Two strong .
goalkeepers fighting for the no1 spot. That is the way I see it anyway
Because Sue we failed to sell the right keeper at the right time (Leno) and his stock has since fallen has many of our players do, we leave them out of the team, badly manage them and they become worthless in comparison. Bellerin, we once could have sold for more earlier, Sanchez, we could have sold for more earlier, Amn we could have sold for more earlier, Lacca we could have sold for more earlier. We have devalued Gouendouzi, Pepe, Partey, Mustaffi, xhaka and many more because of poor management of those players.
Thanks for your speedy response
I did think at the time we should have kept EM but he did demand to be no1. That was probably a bit rich at the time even though he made a big difference. A tough call. One numero uno keeper already and another biting at his heels. Anyone who thinks Leno should automatically be first choice will definitely take issue with you
You have mentioned all sorts later on
I fundamentally disagree with you on MG so we could be at loggerheads on that front and Pepe was never likely to be worth anything close to his purchase price. Partey has been on the physios bed and Sanchez left before Arteta rocked up. We now live in a completely different world. A few players have exchanged hands for top dollar but the vast majority have been loans and moved on with low valuations across the board.
As we always add at the end, it’s all about opinions.