Kepa vs Alisson vs Leno – Which Premier League Goalkeeper Has Been The Best Summer Signing So Far?

The summer transfer window saw three of the so-called ‘Big Six’ Premier League teams recruit new goalkeepers.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal spent a combined total of £157.9million on signing Kepa Arrizabalaga, Alisson Becker and Bernd Leno respectively.

An unprecedented amount of money was spent on goalkeepers in the Premier League in the summer

In fact, Alisson’s £67m transfer to Merseyside in July was a record fee for a glovesman, only for that to be surpassed a matter of weeks later when Kepa completed his move to Stamford Bridge for a whopping £71.6m.

Meanwhile, Leno joined Arsenal for the cheapest price of £19.3m but that is still a large amount for a goalkeeper.

So how have the trio performed at their respective clubs?

talkSPORT has gathered the evidence to see whether Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have acquired duds or studs.

STATS
Clean sheets

• Kepa: 9 in 16 games
• Alisson: 8 in 16 games
• Leno: 3 in 9 games

Goals conceded

• Kepa: 9
• Alisson: 10
• Leno: 8

These stats certainly suggest Kepa is performing the best. He has kept one more clean sheet than Alisson and has played the same number of games as the Reds stopper.

Kepa has also conceded fewer goals than Alisson. Leno only has three clean sheets to his name but has played fewer games.

However, if the German is to keep going at the same rate then his clean sheet rate and goals conceded rate will be worse than both Kepa and Alisson’s.

MISTAKES
When a goalkeeper makes a mistake, it’s likely to directly lead to a goal. Therefore, an ability to not make any errors is the mark of a great keeper.

Again, Kepa comes out on top with only one slight mistake so far – letting Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s long-range shot squirm under his hands during Chelsea’s 3-2 victory over Arsenal.

Leno has only made one small error which led to James Milner striking a loose ball home during the Gunners’ 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool earlier this month.

The error count does not look too kindly on Alisson, however, with mistakes against Arsenal and Red Star Belgrade leading to goals.

He also conceded an embarrassing goal during the Reds’ 2-1 win away to Leicester in September. Fortunately for him, it did not cost his side any points.

IMPORTANCE TO TEAM
Kepa was a very important recruit following the departure of Thibaut Courtois but to label him as one of Chelsea’s key players would be a stretch.

Should Kepa ever get injured, the Blues have Willy Caballero ready to step in. Losing the likes of Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho or Cesar Azpilicueta would be much more of a concern for Maurizio Sarri.

Leno arguably has similar importance to the Gunners fold as Kepa has too. He was needed to gradually replace an ageing Petr Cech but Leno’s absence would not be a disaster for Arsenal.

His level of importance will rise if he can continue to impress though.

Alisson is vital to Liverpool, however. Despite his tendency to commit sloppy mistakes, his presence has restored some order from the dark days of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius being the No.1.

Liverpool’s defence appears to be more relaxed with Alisson behind them too.

VERDICT
It’s clear the stats look better on Kepa but these do not always paint a full picture of how he’s performed.

He has more clean sheets than Alisson but as Chelsea are playing in the Europa League and Liverpool are playing in the Champions League, Alisson has generally played against a higher standard of opponent so far.

Alisson has made more mistakes than the three keepers but it’s clear there is more of a reliance on him at Liverpool than there is for Kepa and Leno at Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.

We’ll have a better idea of how much Leno copes when he faces more top teams later in the campaign but it seems Kepa has generally been the better keeper but Alisson is more important to his team’s set-up than the other two.