5 things you probably didn’t know about Arsenal’s new signing Bernd Leno

#1 Leno vs ter Stegen

Leno vs ter Stegen is a long-running debate

This is a debate that Arsenal fans will be indulging in for many years to come. Although Leno was not included in Germany’s World Cup squad in favour of Kevin Trapp, his biggest competition in the national team to be the successor to Manuel Neuer is Marc-André ter Stegen.

The debate of Leno vs ter Stegen to be the heir to Neuer has been going on for a while now. This discussion reached its peak when both players were in the Bundesliga at the same time.

Leno is only older than ter Stegen by 57 days, but it is the Barcelona man who first played in the Bundesliga and represented Germany’s senior team. Ter Stegen played his first game for Germany in 2012 while Leno had to wait till 2015.

The two goalkeepers were part of the Germany team squad that won the U17 Euro in 2009 and it was ter Stegen who played in goal ahead of Leno.

Last year at the Confederations Cup, Leno lost his starting place in the team to ter Stegen after making two mistakes in the opening game against Australia. This year, he missed out on the World Cup squad as well.

This is what the Barcelona shot-stopper said about his relationship with Leno a couple of years ago:

I don’t understand why this keeps coming up again and again. We understand each other, we have respect for each other, we train well, we laugh together. There simply isn’t an issue between us. We have a good, a very professional relationship. Everyone obviously wants to play as much as possible but that doesn’t mean that I would want anything bad to happen to the other players. At the end of the day, it’s all about the team’s success.