Bernd Leno has missed out on the Germany squad for the upcoming international break, after dropping out of the Arsenal side.

Bernd Leno Arsenal, APRIL 29, 2021 - Football / Soccer : UEFA Europa League Semi-finals 1st leg match between Villarreal CF 2-1 Arsenal FC at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Vila-Real, Spain.
Bernd Leno Arsenal, APRIL 29, 2021 – Football / Soccer: UEFA Europa League Semi-finals 1st leg match between Villarreal CF 2-1 Arsenal FC at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Vila-Real, Spain.

In general, Arsenal’s squad can’t complain about a lack of international call-ups for the March break.

The Gunners have four players in the England squad (Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, and Emile Smith Rowe), Gabriel Martinelli has received his first Brazil call-up, Cedric Soares is back in the Portugal squad, and so on.

But for the first time since June 2019 – when he missed out through injury – Bernd Leno has not been called up by Germany.

Manuel Neuer, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and Kevin Trapp have all made the squad ahead of Leno, raising questions about whether he’ll be involved in the World Cup later this year.

It’s not hard to guess why the decision has been made. Leno hasn’t played a Premier League game since August, and he’s only played once in all competitions in 2022 – a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Aaron Ramsdale has taken Leno’s spot in the side, and there seems to be little to no possibility of that changing. Hansi Flick is obviously going to be hesitant about picking a goalkeeper who isn’t playing matches.

Bernd Leno in training with Arsenal (Photo via Arsenal on Twitter)
Bernd Leno in training with Arsenal (Photo via Arsenal on Twitter)

The long-term implications of Leno’s exclusion are that he’s probably even more likely to push for a transfer in the summer.

I’m sure Arsenal will be expecting that, and it looks like they’ve already tried to prepare for his departure by agreeing on the signing of Matt Turner from the MLS.