Serge Gnabry’s future at Arsenal appears to be hanging in the balance with Werder Bremen thought to be about to sign the winger for €8m+.
The rumour started off a little strangely with Bayern Munich being linked with signing the youngster permanently before immediately loaning him out to Werder. Although Gnabry has been linked with a few German teams recently, Bayern seemed to appear from nowhere.
Gnabry’s father, Jean-Hermann, reportedly told SWR that his son was signing for Bayern, saying, “I would have liked it if Serge would have prevailed here at Arsenal, he still has a contract until 2017. But he’s already in thoughts away.
“Bayern is like Arsenal. Even there he has extremely strong competition. He should have more patience here in London.”
However, this has now apparently been shot down, with reporter, Holger Schmidt, claiming to have spoken to Jean-Hermann on the phone. Schmidt claims that Gnabry’s dad said nothing about Bayern.
Gerade mit Vater #Gnabry telefoniert. Er weiß nichts von #Bayern und sagt, er habe das auch nicht verbreitet #Werder #SVW
— Holger Schmidt (@Hossaar) August 30, 2016
So, was the quote just made up? Or is someone posing as Gnabry’s dad? Odd.
Werder then gave a press conference confirming their interest in signing Gnabry permanently, it seems. Arsenal are apparently playing hardball though and are holding out for a decent transfer fee and contract that works in our favour.
#Baumann: "We've agreed terms with the player and we're confident that the transfer will go ahead." pic.twitter.com/lsviUPw096
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) August 30, 2016
#Baumann: "We were interested in the player four years ago but unfortunately it didn't work out back then."
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) August 30, 2016
#Baumann: "The transfer could be confirmed tomorrow morning."
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) August 30, 2016
Full Baumann quote not posted on official Twitter is "Die Bayern spielen nicht hierbei keine Rolle. Wir möchten ihn kaufen'. Kaufen = buy.
— Michael Keshani (@MichaelKeshani) August 30, 2016
Apologies, Arsenal in talks with Werder Bremen over sale of winger Serge Gnabry. Not done yet but would be permanent deal #AFC #Werder
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) August 30, 2016
Hopefully, Arsenal get what they want from the deal. It’s disappointing that Gnabry wants to leave so badly, considering how long we’ve stuck by him, but he’s only got one year left on his existing contract. If we don’t cash in on him now, we’ll only get nothing next term.
Will the deal go through in time? We’ll have to see tomorrow (Wednesday).