Back for another edition of Doppelpass this
week. The transfer market seems to be gathering pace and we are in for a
certain Gonzalo Higuain and are quite active in general. We just lack an
official confirmation on the official Arsenal site. So nothing to worry
about!
So what’s been on
in Germany this week? It’s all about Borussia Dortmund players these days. I
talked about the Robert Lewandowsi deal last week as an opener to a possible Wayne
Rooney transfer.
As it stands
Lewandowski is not only denied a transfer within the Bundesliga (Bayern Munich)
but also abroad. In Monday’s interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung BVB director
Hans-Joachim Watzke made it very clear that Lewandowski will play for BVB next
season. The club needs to build/strengthen the team and they won’t let him
leave. His weekly wages will be improved though. That’s something I didn’t
expect to be honest. I’ve always thought that he wouldn’t be sold to a league
rival but that step seems to be a tough one to take for Lewandowski.
But when you look
at his time at former club Lech Poznan it’s nothing new for him. He wanted to
leave early as well, was denied and had his best season afterwards. But what
does that mean for the big players? Is it just an invitation to up the bid? Or
is BVB serious? Personally I rate Watzke as a realistic and honest director. He
stands by his word which makes him reliable. On the other hand he will
certainly know what a big deal BVB could miss out on. It’s transfer season so
everything is still possible. But BVB won’t sell unless they have an equivalent
replacement to present. The case is not closed yet…
Last week’s other
rumour was about another BVB player. They really are at top of everyone’s
transfer shortlist it seems. Anyway Marco Reus has been rumoured to be an
Arsenal target and that we are in “talks”, whatever that means. As
far as I know we are not in any kind of talks regarding Reus. We haven’t been
and we probably won’t be. The reference to his release clause is irrelevant as
it’s not active yet. And please answer me one question. Why should BVB sell all
their players? The core of their team? It makes no sense. And with Mario Götze
gone it even makes less sense. So please don’t get fooled by tweets etc. of
that kind. If we end up signing him I say mea culpa and will do the famous
SuperSwe naked run around Emirates Stadium. But I’m pretty sure I can leave my
hat on.
Another (not
priority) transfer target can be crossed off the list. Cologne’s Christian
Clemens signed for Schalke on Monday. The interest was not huge so we haven’t
really missed out on a future star in my opinion. Ilkay Gündogan, a player many
Arsenal fans like to see in red and white also announced that he will most definitely
extend his contract with BVB. That confirms what I wrote about last week.
Bayern seem to be preparing
their deals quietly at the moment with one exception; Laurent Kosciely. Apparently
Munich are interested in the defenders service which is nothing new. Straight
after the Champions League match back in February Munich have been linked with
an offer for the French international. The interest kind of makes sense. With Holger
Badstuber, Munich have a long-term injury to balance and KOZ has emerged as one
of Premier Leagues best defenders in recent times. At the moment there is
nothing concrete though. Even the agent’s talk is “quiet”. I expect
him to stay at Arsenal as we mean business this summer and are not willing to
let important players leave again as it happened in recent years. But we surely
have to have an eye on that one with Barca also coming in. But they should pay
our outstanding debt first before approaching any of our players ever again.
Sorry I wanted to let that out at one point and it seemed just right.
At the end. The Nicklas
Bendtner to Borussia Monchengladbach link seems to have cooled down. Eintracht
Frankfurt seem to be the only German club still in the race for his signature.
Hard to believe a deal hasn’t been struck isn’t it? Oh Niki B….
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.
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