Arsenal have reportedly announced their intention to move for Unai Simon as a possible replacement for Bernd Leno. According to La Razon, Arsenal are interested to sign the Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper this summer. This is due to the poor form displayed by Bernd Leno.
Unai Simon is one of the many homegrown talents available at the Basque club. Simon has had a rapid rise to prominence over the past few years. He has proved to be the successor of Kepa Arrizabalaga, who moved to Chelsea in 2018 for a large sum.
Ever since Simon has become a first-choice goalkeeper for Athletic Bilbao, he has almost 87 appearances in all competitions over the past seasons. He has performed consistently in the top-flight.
He went onto attained a save percentage of 76% last season. This helped his club reach the final of Copa Del Rey in both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns. Although Athletic Bilbao ended up losing both, his performance was commendable.
These good performances from Unai Simon have attracted the eyes of some big clubs such as Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, West Ham, and Monaco, who are now looking to sign the top goalkeeper for next season.
Will Arsenal sign Unai Simon?
The highly-rated Spaniard is under contract with Athletic Club until 2025 and has no termination clause in his deal. This would be a concerning point for his suitors. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is expected to have a busy summer transfer window with his squad in need of plenty of improvement ahead of next season.
It is believed that Mikel Arteta is currently looking for a goalkeeper to replace Bernd Leno in the team.
Arteta faced a decision over his goalkeepers last summer when he let Emiliano Martinez join Aston Villa despite his impressive performances last summer. The Gunners boss may be regretting that decision after Leno’s blunder repetitive blunders in the matches.
Leno has attained a save percentage rate of only 67.9%, which is a steep decline from his tally of 77% last season. These poor performances have raised question marks over Leno’s future.
Arsenal has to also keep in mind to not repeat the same mistake as Chelsea when they signed Kepa Arrizabalaga for a large amount.
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