NEW ARSENAL KEEPER’S HISTORY WITH CECH

BERND LENO will always remember his first confrontation with Petr Cech. Leno, the new Arsenal goalkeeper signed in a £19.2million deal from Bayer Leverkusen this summer, has designs of claiming Cech’s starting jersey but the veteran’s kindness means the relationship will be healthily competitive rather than hostile. Leno casts his mind back to the autumn of 2011 and his Champions League debut as a 19-year-old for Leverkusen against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Leno’s side lost 2-0 but the goalkeeper excelled and as he made his way into the tunnel he found the imposing figure of Cech waiting. ‘I really admire him,’ said Leno. ‘I can remember my first game when I was 19 was against Petr and Chelsea. After the game, he came up and said it was a good game for me. It was seven years ago and now we are together at Arsenal. It’s crazy. Petr had a big career with many trophies and he’s still a big goalkeeper and big personality. I will learn a lot working with him every day. ‘He has big experience and played many games. I have a lot of experience, too, but he has much more, so I can learn from him.’ Leno (right) is respectful but also determined. Goalkeepers are not signed for just short of £20m to sit on and watch from the bench. He defeated Cech in the return fixture as Leverkusen beat Chelsea 2-1 in Germany and kept two clean sheets against Tottenham in the 2016-17 season, including a 1-0 victory at Wembley. Leno also cites the influence of former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. He said: ‘I had some training sessions with Jens when I was 17 at Stuttgart. He was 40. He was so concentrated, so professional and that’s the mentality you need. I watched his training sessions to learn from him.’ Leno wants to be Arsenal’s firstchoice but he knows Cech will not fade quietly. The 36-year-old spoke stirringly this week of his enduring desire but Leno has been Arsenal’s starting keeper against Atletico Madrid and PSG and the perceived wisdom is that the German will be in goal when Unai Emery’s side begin the Premier League season against Manchester City. Leno is still to be informed: ‘I have to look at myself and work very hard to be first choice. I don’t know who will start. I do my best and the coach decides.’ Leno is seen by Arsenal as perfect for the ‘sweeper-keeper’ demands of Emery’s high-pressing system.