Bernd Leno is looking more and more likely to leave Bayer Leverkusen for Arsenal, after his current club announced the signing of a new goalkeeper this week.

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Leverkusen welcomed Lukas Hradecky to the club on Wednesday, with the ‘keeper signing a five-year deal to join the Bundesliga side. It’s likely they guaranteed the 28-year-old first-team football, considering he was already starting every game for fellow German side Eintracht Frankfurt in 2017/18.

https://twitter.com/bayer04_en/status/999217463786135553

The Irish Mirror call this a ‘breakthrough’ for Arsenal, as the North London club are reportedly targeting current first-choice Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno. The Gunners aren’t the only team in the mix though, as Atletico Madrid are also apparently in the race.

Reports over the last few months suggest Sven Mislintat is really pushing a move for the 26-year-old. The head of recruitment reportedly convinced Arsene Wenger that Leno was the best option to replace Cech. Now he’ll have to do the same with Unai Emery.

In the meantime, Leno will prepare to travel to the World Cup with Germany. He’s in Joachim Low’s 27-man provisional squad, and likely to make the final 23. Manuel Neuer and Marc-Andre ter Stegen provide tough competition, but I’d expect him to have priority over Kevin Trapp based on this season.

If a deal isn’t done by June 14, we’ll probably have to wait until the end of the tournament in mid-July for any progress.

For the other options on Mislintat’s shortlist this summer, click ‘Next’

Jan Oblak

• Current club: Atletico Madrid
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £63m

According to the Catalan newspaper Sport, Raul Sanllehi is trying to bring Oblak to the Emirates. The Slovenian goalkeeper has tons of experience at the top level, and is very highly rated.

As a result, it could be difficult to lure him away from his current club, particularly as they’ve qualified for the Champions League and Arsenal haven’t.

His statistics are slightly unbalanced by the fact that Atletico are so good defensively.

They base their game around solidity at the back, making it much more difficult for opponents to get good quality opportunities to test Oblak.

Nonetheless, as you can see from the stats, the 25-year-old doesn’t disappoint when called upon.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 29 in 48 matches
• Saves per goal (La Liga): 4.56
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 55%

Alisson

• Current club: AS Roma
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £40.5m

Recently the media have linked Alisson with Liverpool, but it’s definitely a deal Arsenal should think about hijacking.

He apparently refused a new deal to try and force a move this summer, and is in great form in Italy.

The proposed extension included a buy-out clause of £71m, so it’s lucky he rejected it.

He’s even caught the eye of Real Madrid scouts with his impressive displays, particularly in Europe.

He kept clean sheets against Atletico Madrid and Chelsea in the Champions League group stages.

Most recently he performed very well in the knockout rounds against Shakhtar Donetsk, helping his side to progress to the quarter-finals, then the semis, before eventual elimination.

Arsenal missed their chance to bring Wojciech Szczesny back from Roma last year, perhaps they can sign Alisson from the Italians instead.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 22 in 49 matches
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 3.41
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 83%

Jack Butland

• Current club: Stoke City
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £16.2m

Jack Butland is constantly linked with a move to the Emirates, even though his performances haven’t been so impressive this season.

The England international has struggled with Stoke, although that’s largely the fault of his teammates.

Second bottom of the table and already relegated, it’s probably unfair to judge him too harshly on this campaign.

Then again, the own goal he scored recently didn’t do him any favours.

Nonetheless, he’s an experienced Premier League goalkeeper, and no one else in the competition can boast more saves this season than him.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 6 in 36 matches
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.89
• Errors leading to goals: 1
• Distribution accuracy: 50%

Gianluigi Donnarumma

• Current club: AC Milan
• Age: 19
• Contract until: 2021
• Estimated value: £36m

Although transfermarkt.co.uk give Donnarumma’s value as £36m, in reality he’d probably cost as much as almost any goalkeeper in Europe.

The goalkeeper only turned 19 in February, and already has 114 appearances for Milan.

He has also made his debut for the Italian national team, and once Buffon retires he’ll likely hold down the number one spot for years to come.

If Arsenal signed Donnarumma they probably wouldn’t need a new goalkeeper for more than a decade.

Unfortunately everyone knows that, so there would be massive competition for his signature, and a bidding war that Milan would probably drag on as long as they could.

Nonetheless, for such a promising talent, it would be worth a shot.

He’s not without his faults though, as you’d expect from a 19-year-old.

This season he’s made more errors leading to goals than anyone on this list, including one against Arsenal, spilling Granit Xhaka’s shot into his own net.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 21 in 52 matches
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.95
• Errors leading to goals: 3
• Distribution accuracy: 78%

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

• Current club: FC Barcelona
• Age: 26
• Contract until: 2022
• Estimated value: £36m

The Spanish media linked Arsenal to Ter Stegen late last year, claiming the club made an approach for the Barcelona shot stopper. He’s one of the top performing goalkeepers around at the moment, making more than five saves for every goal he concedes.

With him in goal, Barcelona have a defensive record second only to Atletico Madrid in La Liga, which is quite some achievement.

The German is also becoming a regular in his country’s national side. He’s started eight of their last 10 matches despite strong competition.

Unfortunately, the catch is that Ter Stegen’s good performances make Barcelona unlikely to want to let him go. He reportedly has a £158m release clause, but I can’t imagine Arsenal paying that much for a goalkeeper.

If he does decide he wants a move to the Premier League though, he would make a great buy.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 23 in 47 matches
• Saves per goal (La Liga): 4.11
• Errors leading to goals: 0
• Distribution accuracy: 83%

Timo Horn

• Current club: FC Koln
• Age: 25
• Contract until: 2023
• Estimated value: £10.8m

Horn is a self-confessed Arsenal fan, and in January the media linked him with a move to the club.

He is well-regarded in Germany, and represented his country at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Like Butland, Horn has the disadvantage of playing for a club performing very poorly. Koln got relegated from the Bundesliga, so he was unlikely to keep many clean sheets.

Of course, that didn’t stop him keeping Wenger’s side out when they visited Germany.

Koln’s misfortune looked to be good news for Arsenal, as Horn would reportedly be available for £5.4m if the German side went down. When they did, however, he gave a public statement to say he wasn’t going to activate the clause. This one could be a dead end.

2017/18 stats

• Clean sheets: 7 in 43 matches
• Saves per goal (Premier League): 1.52
• Errors leading to goals: 2
• Distribution accuracy: 57%