Per Mertesacker has hinted at the possibility of Arsenal’s academy working with Werder Bremen, after travelling to Germany to meet with representatives from his old club.

With the international break underway, many players have already jetted off to be with their countries for a couple of matches. Meanwhile, Arsenal academy manager Per Mertesacker has taken a trip to Germany, to pay a visit to his old club Werder Bremen.

Bild write that the Arsenal man was on the sidelines in training on Wednesday, and he explained to the German outlet why he made the decision to turn up.

“Werder Bremen does very good youth work and with Thomas Schaaf (technical director) they have someone who brings in new structures. I talked to him and thought about what we can do together as far as players are concerned,” Mertesacker said.

Bild speculated that this could mean closer cooperation with the Arsenal youth teams, with the possibility of sharing talent on loan. That could be mutually beneficial, with Bremen getting the chance to bring in some very talented players and the Gunners getting a free year of development for those young stars.

When asked if that was the plan, Mertesacker smiled and answered: “Let’s see what happens. This was just an exchange of ideas.”

Arsenal already have a couple of players on loan in Germany, though neither of them play for Werder Bremen. Reiss Nelson is with Hoffenheim and Emile Smith Rowe joined RB Leipzig in January, though he’s yet to start a game for the club, thanks to injury.

The two clubs have done business for young players before though, with Serge Gnabry leaving Arsenal for Werder on a permanent deal. Perhaps the likes of Xavier Amaechi, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah could follow on loan transfers next season. We’ll see.