Back from my
beach break and straight into the office. But there is still some time to get
you the latest Arsenal related transfer news from Germany.
To begin
with I’d like to get two of last week’s rumours out of the way which are David Alaba
and Ilkay Gündogan. Alaba has been rumoured to be an Arsenal target. To be
honest I have never seen such bad journalism.
Alaba is
still under contract with the triple Champions Bayern Munich; the team he is a
regular starter for and which will dominate national and international football
in the upcoming years for sure. Plus they got a new coach named Pep Guardiola.
So why the hell should he even think about moving? Or why should Munich sell
one of their best players who’s still very young and can get even better. I
think you got the message.
Second
rumour was/is Gündogan. The Borussia Dortmund midfielder had a fantastic season
with the Champions League finalists and also got more than one foot into
Germany’s national side. The lovely press suggest that we will spend our money
on him. Funny story that was. BVB won’t sell. They will keep their squad
together after already losing Mario Götze. Plus Gündogan himself told German
press a few weeks ago that he will extend his contract during the summer break
and is more than happy to do so. So a bit of research would have lead to the
result that Gündogan is going nowhere.
Let’s
move on to the newest development in this summer’s transfer saga. It’s Robert Lewandowsi
to Bayern. Or not? The deal seemed to be all but done with his agent and Munich
talking about it kind of openly. I always said that I would be surprised if
Dortmund would sell another player to Munich, and now director Hans-Joachim Watzke
has made it clear. Lewandowski will not be transferred to Munich this summer.
What he does as a free agent next year is up to him. This doesn’t mean he won’t
be sold this summer. But not within Bundesliga. At least that’s what Watzke
told the press. So how do Arsenal get involved? I don’t think we are going for
him but Manchester United are very keen and him arriving could pave the way for
Wayne Rooney to leave Manchester. With us being interested in Rooney the
Lewandowski situation is one to watch. So keep your focus on that one even if
Arsenal are not directly involved. It’s all about certain deals going through
to get others started. Kind of a domino effect.
Other
news I received from my friend at Cologne press was that Arsenal are interested
in Cologne’s U21 Player Christian Clemens. I tweeted it the other day and got a
mixed reception. Clemens is a winger (right and left). He would not be first
choice; maybe for the youth team or as back up. The time I tweeted the news I
thought that was obvious. Instead I got many replies about why we are in for this
kind of player. Personally I think we are not seriously in for him with Schalke
also moving close to sign him. But I thought it may be interesting to see that
we are in the market on many fronts and levels.
At last
I’d like to take a look at another German youngster we seem to have an eye on,
Matthias Ginter. The Freiburg U21 player had a great season at his club and has
been on the radar for many clubs including Dortmund. Ginter is a central
defender. The 19-year-old was in Freiburg’s starting XI 23 times this season
without being taken off once. He scored two goals and has a 86.5% pass
completion rate with 56.5% defence battles won.
Here are
his details:
Born:
19.01.1994
Nationality:
German
Height: 188
cm
Weight: 85
kg
Position:
Defender
Personally,
I think he is a good prospect with lots of potential. The question is if that’s
what we need at the moment to get back to winning trophies. But with Per Mertesacker
and Laurent Koscielny by his side, Ginter could develop into a great back up
for our defence. On the other hand we have young players in line who can fill
in. Difficult decision. If we can get him for a low fee I would invest it. £2m-£3m
should be the maximum in my opinion.
That’s it for this week. Check out my tweets
and blog for further daily info.
Cheers,
Chris
Mader
Mad, Jens-like, thirty-something German. Waving the Arsenal flag in Münster, Germany. Red member. Visiting Arsenal matches for more than 10 years now. Still fussed EasyJet won’t get me free flights. Always down N5 with my dad. Worked in London for about half a year. Started my own German Arsenal blog about two years ago. Expert on Bundesliga issues. BVB my local club.
I think the title of this article is very misleading. You have stated that the Lewandowski deal is still alive for arsenal, when in reality we all know it isn’t. You then go on to say ‘I don’t think we are going for him but Manchester United are very keen’ so really, if anything the title should be ‘Lewandowski deal still alive for United.’ Why title an article in such a way that implies that a deal could happen and then dismiss it immediately, it seems almost as if you are trying to excite people into reading this drivel purely so you can get hits? This article contains no meaningful content related to the possibility of Lewandowski joining Arsenal. Disappointing considering the usually high standards on this site.