Arsenal are reportedly in a race against Bayern Munich to sign Schalke midfielder, Leon Goretzka.
According to German journalist, Raphael Honigstein, Goretzka is set to sign for Bayern.
In fact, a deal is allegedly already done.
deal with Bayern is done.
— Raphael Honigstein (@honigstein) July 25, 2017
Gunnersphere says that the journo has made these claims in the past. However, this was before Schalke’s sporting director, Christian Heidel, insisted that no agreement had been met over the 22-year-old leaving.
In fact, Heidel seems pretty adamant that the youngster isn’t leaving just yet. Although they don’t seem to have much of a choice.
“We do not need to call anyone because of Leon Goretzka,” Heidel told Sport Bild.
“We will definitely not give him away. Goretzka is not for sale – even if a club should offer a transfer [fee] between 20 and 30 million euros.”
Goretzka reportedly won’t sign a new contract with the Bundesliga club, leading Arsene Wenger to allegedly believe that he could get a ‘cut price’ deal. The central midfielder only has one year left on his current agreement, after all.
Bayern have appeared to be the main club in the frame to sign him after he represented Germany at the Confederations Cup. He was a stand-out performer on their way to lifting the trophy, playing for 337 minutes, assisting once and scoring three times.
Despite Bayern’s interest, however, Manchester City, Tottenham and Juventus have also been linked.
Last season, Goretzka made 41 appearances, scoring eight goals and assisting six.
Were Arsenal ever interested? It’s hard to tell with young, promising players who appear to be angling for a better deal at their current club, or a move elsewhere.