There has been much speculation that Bernd Leno is considering his Arsenal future after a less than inspiring season with the Gunners. The German has been brilliant at times, but in other games he has been prone to having mix-ups with the defenders while playing out from the back.
Leno was particularly poor and seemed lacking in confidence at the beginning of the season when he had no competition for his place, but the arrival of Mat Ryan from Brighton in January gave him food for thought.
The Australian impressed us all in the few appearances he made, and he recently made it clear that he would be keen on a return to the Emirates when he told FoxSports: “I’ve got full faith in the team around me – my agent, family, friends – that we’re going to get a couple of options hopefully and go about making what’s going to be the best decision for me,”
“Hopefully, Arsenal becomes one of those options as well that we can look at and see what can happen there, but at the minute it’s still quite early. The season’s just finished.
“I’m taking it day by day and seeing where my journey takes me.”
But now today, in a story about Arsenal losing out in the chase for Brentford’s David Raya after their promotion to the top division, the Sun is claiming that a deal has already been done.
The report says:
And with the future of current No 1 Bernd Leno still uncertain, Arsenal’s recruitment team are having to look elsewhere.
Australian international Mat Ryan is set to complete a free transfer from Brighton after a successful six-month loan spell at the Emirates.
But he is only seen as a back-up keeper and Arsenal now bitterly regret selling Emi Martinez to Aston Villa last summer.
Manager Mikel Arteta is keen to get as much of his transfer business wrapped up as quickly as possible to avoid any deadline-day panic.
Now as Ryan is currently in Dubai with Australia, I am finding it hard to believe that a deal has already been agreed, but as the Sun seems so certain, maybe we should be celebrating!