Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown is not sure whether Bernd Leno should be given a chance in the first-team by Unai Emery.
Despite recruiting the goalkeeper from Bayer Leverkusen for £22.5m in the summer, the German has yet to feature in the Premier League with the manager favouring veteran Petr Cech in goal.
Responding to a question in a Q&A for the Daily Mail, Keown said Leno could improve on the Czech’s distribution, but he remains to be convinced that he would be a better shot-stopper:
“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.”
The 26-year-old has just six caps for Germany, although it must be said that there are a long list of good goalkeepers for national team manager Joachim Low to choose from.
Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer, Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen and PSG’s Kevin Trapp have all been favoured ahead of Leno in recent squads.
Still, Arsenal fans will be keen to see what he is made of in the Premier League, and with Cech’s recent travails with his footwork, many want Leno to be given his first start after the international break.
