Arsenal must sell for more transfers as they close in on £22m Bernd Leno

Arsenal are closing in on a deal to sign goalkeeper Bernd Leno for £22million from Bayer Leverkusen.

Since Unai Emery took over as manager last month, the Gunners have brought in defenders Stephan Lichtsteiner and Sokratis Papasthopoulos – though the latter has still to be announced formally – while their move for Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira is also thought to be nearing completion. Should all four deals go through, Emery will be under pressure to sell if he wants to bring more in.

The Spaniard has been told he has a restricted budget this summer and he will need to offload players to boost the funds available to him for transfers.

The Leno deal would cast doubt over the futures of Petr Cech and David Ospina, with Napoli known to be interested in taking Cech to Serie A. Following Arsene Wenger’s departure and Emery’s arrival, head of recruitment Sven Mislintat and head of football relations Raul Sanllehi have focused on improving defence and midfield.

Papasthopoulos is joining from Borussia Dortmund for about £16m with Torreira, who is part of Uruguay’s World Cup squad, expected to cost about £20m. Lichtsteiner signed from Juventus on a free transfer.