Is it time for Fulham to move on from Bernd Leno?

It seems destined to be a busy summer transfer window for Fulham and this is likely going to be not just ins but outs too.

As things stand, Harry Wilson will not be at Craven Cottage next season, neither will Raul Jimenez or at the current moment manager Marco Silva.

We know that Fulham are doing everything they can to bring in Ricardo Pepi from PSV Eindhoven after twice being rebuffed by the Dutch side.

And Samuel Chukwueze seems destined to remain at Craven Cottage on a permanent basis.

But there is another position that has come under some scrutiny this week, with a daming stat posted on Twitter that has got fans thinking.

That position is goalkeeper.

Bernd Leno will play in his 150th match for Fulham at Anfield and he has become something of a cult hero amongst Cottagers but there is a growing feeling that it might be time for him to move on.

At 34, Leno has one more year on his contract with Fulham, and so it seems unlikely he will leave the club this year but could he be relegated to a No.2?

Well a rather damning statistic suggested he should be.

The most goals prevented metric had 21 goalkeepers from the Premier League this season and is effectively the XG for goalkeepers.

It compares the liklihood of a goal being scored and if you are in the positive then you are stopping more goals than you theoretically should and if it is in the negative then you are letting in goals that perhaps you should not.

Of the 21 Premier League keepers in the table, Leno ranks 21st, with a goals prevented of -5.8.

That suggests that Fulham should have conceded 5.8 fewer goals this season.

But more worryingly, is the fact he finishes dead last on this metric, behind two goalkeepers from Leeds in Lucas Perri and Karl Darlow.

Fulham are an improving team, they have the ability to keep growing and move away from mid-table and up to regularly challenging for European places.

It feels like there is platform to build from and the next two seasons could be huge for Fulham’s growth and immediate future as a football club.

But to improve, you need a top goalkeeper and the stats suggest that Fulham do not currently have that.

Leno’s overall time at Fulham does not read badly at all - he has played 149 matches, he has conceded 221 goals and kept 29 clean sheets.

That is an average of a clean sheet every five matches, which feels like a solid return.

But a stat that highlights you are letting in significantly more goals than you should, and also are ranking below every other goalkeeper in the league suggests that maybe it is time for Fulham to look for a new man between the sticks.