Arsenal signed the 26-year-old goalkeeper in June from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £20million. The Germany international has yet to make his debut for the north Londoners and has found himself playing second fiddle to veteran stopper Petr Cech.
Unai Emery’s decision to play Cech ahead of Leno has perplexed many, especially given the former’s performances so far this season.
Leno hasn’t been disheartened by his lack of first-team football and is more than willing to bide his time on the sidelines. “I am convinced my move was the right decision,” Leno told Sport Bild when asked about his move to The Emirates.
“Arsenal paid a lot of money for me, I received a good welcome.” He added: “I won’t get crazy over this [being on the bench]. It maybe takes a few weeks or months, but my time here will come. I’d love to play straight away.
“But I won’t lose my patience, the coach has shown me a clear plan and I believe in it. But sure: I always want to play and as soon as possible here.”
When he does finally make his debut, Leno believes he’ll be more than able to adapt to Emery’s style of play.
“My style of play fits Unai Emery’s idea of play,” Leno said. “He likes a high-positioned goalkeeper, who can also initiate play.
“That’s what the coach told me before the move, and again only recently. That’s my game. Arsenal were looking for a keeper for that.”
Arsenal return to action on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Wales to take on Cardiff City.
Emery and his troops go into the match on the back of their first victory of the season, a 3-1 triumph over West Ham.
The Spaniard was delighted to have bagged his first competitive win as Gunners boss, telling the BBC: “It was very important to win, and we showed that we can win in difficulty, after 1-0 in the first half.
“We suffered with the transition in the first half, but we improved in the second half and controlled it more like we want. We need to improve in this transition to get the balance.”