With the arrival of Matt Turner this summer fore-loaded by Aaron Ramsdale replacing Bernd Leno as Arsenal’s number one choice between the sticks – it was self-evident that the German international will look for different pastures.
The salary that Bernd Leno commands (i.e. reported £100,000/week) was putting clubs off of any potential deal, till Fulham came into the picture. As for the Gunners, they initially put on a price tag of £ 15 million (with add-ons) on Bernd, although when Fulham were ready to explore other options – Arsenal did cave and shake hands for a deal worth £8 million plus add-ons.
Reports insist that Leno has already said his goodbyes around London Colney in the summer break, although he did return back for a brief period and did travel with Arsenal to the US on the pre-season tour as well.
Telegraph are now reporting that a deal that will see Bernd Leno move to Fulham is close. Looks like all parties got a good hand; Bernd got to stay in London (something that always was his primary intention), and Fulham have an exceptional goalkeeper in their hands that can single-handedly decide games (something he has done for Arsenal time and time again over the years), and Arsenal get to move him on with a decent deal.
More importantly, as earlier stated and something Edu said in his recent interview with the Athletic – Arsenal will get another player with a massive pay-check off the books. And with Bernd Leno entering the final year of his contract at Arsenal – £8 million seems a decent deal.
For Bernd Leno. He will go to Fulham as possibly their highest paid player, and more importantly as an integral figure that can not only guide the team with his experience but also be a leader of that squad. And him staying just around the corner means, we’ll get to watch his spectaculars every now and then, unless it’s against Arsenal – I’ll be gunning for him.
