Football: Arsenal sign Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Yesterday, German football club Bayer 04 Leverkusen announced the transfer of their goalkeeper Bernd Leno to London club Arsenal FC. According to Leverkusen, Leno has signed a "long-term deal" ^{((de))German language: ‍langfristigen Vertrag} with Arsenal.

The 26-year-old goalkeeper spent seven seasons with Bayer, featuring in 230 German Bundesliga matches. Leno joined Bayer in 2011 at the age of nineteen and became the club's first choice keeper. Before joining Leverkusen, Leno spent his early career at VfB Stuttgart. In September 2011, Leno became the youngest goalkeeper to feature in a UEFA Champions League match, against Chelsea.

Leno has played in six international matches for Germany, making his international debut in 2016. Leno was in the national team which won the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia last year. Though Leno was included in the 27-man provisional team, he was left out of this year's FIFA World Cup.

Jonas Boldt, Leverkusen sporting director, said, "We signed Bernd in 2011 as a very young keeper and put him in a position of great responsibility straight away. He immediately repaid that confidence both in the Bundesliga and the Champions League. Bernd has consistently performed well for us over the years" ^{((de))German language: ‍Wir haben Bernd 2011 als ganz jungen Keeper geholt und ihm sofort große Verantwortung übertragen. Dieses Vertrauen hat er uns gleich zurückgezahlt sowohl in der Bundesliga als auch in der Champions League. Bernd hat für unseren Verein über Jahre hinweg konstant gute Leistungen gebracht}.

Arsenal coach Unai Emery said, "We are very pleased that Bernd Leno will be joining us. Bernd is a goalkeeper of high quality and experience. He has been a top performer and regular number one goalkeeper with Leverkusen in the Bundesliga for the past seven years."

Previously, Arsenal signed right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner after his contract expired with Italian side Juventus. Currently, Petr Čech and Colombian David Ospina are the other goalkeepers in the Arsenal squad.

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Sources

Mattias Karen. "Arsenal sign Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno" — ESPN FC, June 20, 2018
"Arsenal: Goalkeeper Bernd Leno agrees to join from Bayer Leverkusen" — BBC Sport, June 19, 2018
"Bayer 04 Transferiert torhüter Bernd Leno zum C Arsenal" — Bayer 04 Leverkusen, June 19, 2018 (German)
"Bernd Leno leaves Bayer 04 for Arsenal" — Bayer 04 Leverkusen, June 19, 2018
"German goalkeeper Bernd Leno has agreed to join us from Bayer Leverkusen" — Arsenal FC, June 19, 2018

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