Club Legend Martin Keown Expresses Some Doubts Over Arsenal Summer Signing Bernd Leno

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has expressed some doubts over summer signing Bernd Leno, suggesting the German has everything to prove after his transfer to the Emirates.

Leno was one of five players brought in by new boss Unai Emery in the summer transfer window, as the Spaniard looked to stamp his own mark on the Arsenal squad.

Quoted by the Sport Review, Keown said his Daily Mail column that he was uncertain over £22.5m signing Leno given his omission from recent German national team squads and his underwhelming shot-stopping record.

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Keown said: “If you look at the statistics for goalkeepers in Europe, Leno excels in his distribution but is not the best when it comes to the shots he is expected to stop.

“The German was not in their World Cup squad and hasn’t been called up for this international break.

“How good is he? We’re not too sure yet.”

Leno made 304 appearances in all competitions for Leverkusen during his seven year stint at the club.

While at Leverkusen the shotstopper earned six senior international caps for Germany, making his debut back in 2016.

However, the 26-year-old was not part of Germany's World Cup squad in Russia this summer, and was again omitted from the team for this week's internationals - though a lack of game time at Arsenal might have factored into that decision.

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While Keown was not directly opposed to the German's arrival at the Emirates, he felt the goalkeeper's statistics from back in Germany and a lack of international call-ups meant that the 26-year-old still had plenty to prove before fans could know how good of a player he was.

So far, Leno has been unable to usurp Petr Cech from the Arsenal goal, despite many expecting the big money signing to immediately have been brought into the team.