New boy Bernd Leno reveals which Arsenal star convinced him to sign

Arsenal new boy Bernd Leno has revealed that one Gunners star persuaded him to sign for Unai Emery’s side.

The highly-rated goalkeeper left Bayer Leverkusen last week and will be officially confirmed as an Arsenal player on July 1.

Leno is already familiar with a host of Emirates stars through his time with the German national side, while Mesut Ozil and former Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker played alongside him in the past.

But Leno has revealed that Shkodran Mustafi was the man who persuaded him to make the switch to north London.

“I already know Musti and Mesut Ozil from the national team, plus Xhaka, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan from the Bundesliga,” he told Arsenal Player.

“I talked to Musti about Arsenal many months ago.

“He said it’s a fantastic club with a fantastic stadium and fantastic fans.

“I watched games on the TV in Germany and yes, Arsenal is a fantastic club.

“I’ve known Musti for about 10 or 11 years. We grew up together in the youth national teams, the under-17s through to the under-21s.

“It’s funny to see us together at Arsenal now!”

 

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Leno also faced off against Arsenal team-mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during their time together in the Bundesliga, but admits he will be happy to be on the same side as the Gabon hitman from now on.

“Yes, it will be special because in the past I’ve always played against him,” Leno added.

“He’s so fast and as a goalkeeper you have to respect his qualities, his speed.

“Now we’ll train together and I hope he’ll score for us.”