Arsenal have put their demands aside to facilitate the transfer of Bernd Leno to Fulham who have been in negotiations for the goalkeeper.
The Gunners were unwilling to lower their asking price of £10 million for Leno, which stalled his exit. However, in a bid to clear their wage bill Arsenal have reportedly agreed the initial £8 million offer from Fulham.
The newly-promoted side are in search of a quality shot-stopper and Leno has been on top of their list. The German has a experience of playing in the Premier League and is now set for a switch.
Leno joined Arsenal back in 2018 from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of around £20 million. However, his potential £8 million move to Fulham means the Gunners will have to sustain a loss of £12 million.
Arsenal director Edu hints at mass clearance
Leno has been warming the bench for Arsenal after the club signed Aaron Ramsdale last summer. The England international has ticked all boxes of what Mikel Arteta wants from his ‘keeper.
Ramsdale’s ability of playing out from the back and his distribution have outranked Leno’s performances, which were on the downfall even before the former Sheffield United arrived.
Leno played a massive 49 games in all competitions in 2020/21 season, which were reduced to a mere 8 last season. USMNT international Matt Turner’s signing has further sent him down the pecking order at the Emirates.
Fulham have now emerged as a source of regular game-time for Leno who is all set to accept their proposal. Arsenal too are content with the Cottagers’ £8 million offer since Sporting director Edu Gaspar has made it clear that he won’t be keeping ‘unhappy’ players at the club.
With 101 Premier League games under his belt, Leno would certainly be an upgrade for Fulham on their current options between the sticks.
The Germany international would become their fourth signing this summer after the acquisitions of Joan Palhinha, Andreas Pareira and Manor Solomon.
Meanwhile, Edu has now revealed his plans of offloading a number of fringe players at Arsenal who don’t fit in the club’s plans.
In a recent interview Edu explained, “We have a large squad so we have to make some decisions as well on the players that we’re not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them and that’s a process that is going to start very soon as well.
“We have to (offload). We have a big squad and now we have to make things happen.”
Leno is just one of the many players on Arsenal’s list this summer to get rid of. The club will next try and sell the likes of Lucas Torreira, Reiss Nelson, Nicolas Pepe, Pablo Mari and Nuno Tavares.