Arsenal: David Seaman nails Bernd Leno reservations

David Seaman has expressed reservations about Bernd Leno’s adaptation to the Premier League and his ability to claim Arsenal’s starting role. He has a point.

Bernd Leno has been a highly-touted young goalkeeper for many years. Ever since he was starting regularly as a fresh-faced 19-year-old at Bayer Leverkusen, it was expected that he would develop into one of the world’s elite goalkeepers. But now, at 26, he is only deemed worth short of £20 million as Arsenal decided to jump on the hype.

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Leno arrives in north London expecting to take over the starting role from Petr Cech. He might not have it all his own way. Unai Emery has stated that he will have an open competition between all of his goalkeepers, Cech has iterated his intention to fight for his place, and Leno reportedly spilled a cross in a behind-closed-doors friendly last week.

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And there are some serious reservations about how his early months at the Emirates will go. Former Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman expressed his concerns about Leno, especially his lack of Premier League experience, this weekend:

"“I’m still waiting to see him play and then I will make a judgement but you can only tell once they start playing in the Premier League. It is a totally different pace and physicality, you look at David De Gea when he first came here he had big problems when he didn’t realise how physical it was in the Premier League but he adapted to that and really kicked on. With Leno, we have to wait and see what happens – if he is number one, we don’t even know who is going to be number one yet.”"

Seaman certainly makes some good points. In the same interview, he talks about Cech’s experience and consistency as two traits that may see him protect his starting role in the squad. There has, I believe, been an assumption that Leno will be the number one and will be a success. It is a bit premature for that.

Although Arsenal signed Leno to be the starter — a £19 million goalkeeper is always signed with the intention of them being the starter –, his error-prone record in recent years, his lack of experience of English football, allied with the dependability of Cech as his main challenger, and the fact that Unai Emery may not have been the main proprietor of the transfer all cast doubts on the assumption that Leno will start next season.

I am not trying to argue that Leno does not deserve to start. And I don’t think that Seaman is either, even if he talks up Cech and casts doubt over Leno in the same interview. It’s more a case of caution, to temper the expectations of his greatness, and to admit that he may not be as good as many portray him to be.

Next: Arsenal: 3 consequences from Bernd Leno signing

There are reservations regarding Leno. They are not critical flaws. They are salvageable. He can prove them inconsequential. But they are there and they shouldn’t be ignored.