Arsenal have formally announced the signing of German goalkeeper Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £19.3million.

Leno made over 300 appearances for the Bundesliga side and kept 100 clean sheets in that time, including ten league shutouts last season.

He has been capped six times by his country, but missed out on a place in their squad for the 2018 World Cup.

Arrival number two

It is Arsenal's second signing of the summer after the arrival of right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free transfer

Speaking to the club's official website, manager Unai Emery expressed his confidence that the club have got themselves a top-drawer shot-stopper.

"We are very pleased that Bernd Leno will be joining us," he said. "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.

"We are all excited that Bernd has chosen Arsenal Football Club and look forward to start working with him in pre-season."

The addition of Leno will likely lead to the departure of either the veteran Petr Cech or his present deputy David Ospina, but it remains, for the moment, unclear who will be heading for the exit door. 

Arsenal are also close to completing deals for Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira and Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos as Emery looks to bolster his squad ahead of a potential top-four assault.

The pair are set to cost £22million and £16million respectively. 

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About the author
David Comerford
Avid viewer of Premier League football. Liverpool supporter. Aspiring sports journalist.