Leno: ‘I have enjoyed Fulham from the first day’

Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno has insisted he has ‘never regretted’ moving to Craven Cottage.

The German international has given a detailed interview to the Times’ Alyson Rudd where he expresses sympathy for England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who has been ditched for David Raya, as Leno experienced the ruthlessness of Mikel Arteta himself. Leno revealed that he was told he had to leave the Emirates after being dropped after the first international break last season:

“When I wanted to fight for my place, the goalkeeper coach said, ‘You have to leave the club’. When he said it wasn’t about performance, I knew straight away I had to leave. I don’t know if they didn’t want two strong keepers. I had one year left on my contract so it was the last time to make money off me. I knew that they [Fulham] were twice down, twice up in a row but when I spoke to the manager I had a very good feeling. He convinced me to come. I never regretted my decision, I have enjoyed Fulham from the first day.”

Leno, who has been outstanding since moving across the capital, revealed that he was jealous of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson for scoring a Premier League having only ended up in goal because his under 7s side failed to turn up. But he is clear that his main job is keep the ball out of the net.

I don’t think about stats too much … I have no idea about this stuff. The only thing I know is the goals conceded column in the table. I would say my biggest strength is my shot-stopping, one-v-one reflexes. In my opinion, goalkeeping should about 75% shot-stopping. Of course, even we try to play from the back. It all starts with the keeper. But you can ask our manager, the priority is to have a keeper who can save goals because we are not Man City. Ederson gets one or two shots per game and we get five, six, seven. Mainly, my job is to save goals”