Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has told Bernd Leno he can leave this month as the German closes in on a Gunners exit, football.london understands.
Leno, 29, has struggled to nail down the first spot in Arteta's starting XI, with Aaron Ramsdale having displaced the Germany international as the first choice at the Emirates Stadium this season.
As a result of his game time struggles, with a World Cup just around the corner, there have been rumours that the north Londoners may allow the former Bayer Leverkusen man to continue his push to make Hansi Flick's squad elsewhere.
And football.london can now confirm these reports, with Newcastle one of the clubs amongst others who are in talks with Leno.
Leno's last appearance for the Gunners came in the shock FA Cup third round defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
The 29-year-old and other fringe players have responded well to the new players that added a youthful look to the squad, and Arteta has already pointed this out with previous comments he's made on the competitive nature of the squad that has been assembled by Edu.
“What I’m really pleased with is that players are knocking on the door with the right attitude to play and that’s giving us options,” Arteta said back in October 2021.
“I don’t see anybody trying to find excuses when they’re not playing or trying to blame somebody else when they’re not playing.
“They’re just trying to put in the best possible work in training and then talk on the pitch. Talking outside the pitch is easy because you can always find excuses and blame everybody else.
“When you have the opportunity [on the pitch] it’s the moment to talk and show that you can do it and I really liked, in many examples, what the players have done when they’ve been in those positions.”
That hasn't been a theme recently, with Covid and injury issues leading to the North London derby postponement.
Therefore, Leno being told he can now leave the north London club could signal that a replacement is in the pipeline and will have to be signed before £14m valued shot stopper can depart.
And it seems as though an MLS goalkeeper is in contention to be the one given the vote of confidence in this situation.
New England Revolution's Matt Turner has been the subject of a 'strong' bid from Edu and co who are looking to get a deal sorted with less than 11 days to go in this January transfer window.
Turner has already won 13 international caps with the USA and will certainly relish the challenge of being Ramsdale's understudy.
