Jerome Boateng won’t get a new contract with Bayern Munich, making him available for a free transfer this summer with Arsenal interested.

MUNICH, GERMANY - DECEMBER 14: Jerome Boateng of FC Bayern Muenchen runs with the ball during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and SV Werder Bremen at Allianz Arena on December 14, 2019, in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
MUNICH, GERMANY: Jerome Boateng of FC Bayern Muenchen runs with the ball during the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Muenchen and SV Werder Bremen at Allianz Arena on December 14, 2019. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Christian Falk reports that Bayern Munich aren’t handing Jerome Boateng a new contract, despite his current deal expiring at the end of the season. He can leave on a free transfer, with Falk naming Arsenal, Chelsea, and Spurs among those interested.

It’s a little bit of a surprise Bayern aren’t trying harder to keep Boateng, given he’s still starting regularly for them. He made his ninth appearance of the season over the weekend, with eight of those being starts.

In the Bundesliga, he’s only missed one match, starting all of the rest. Yet the German club have decided to part ways with the 32-year-old. The English clubs are free to start negotiations over a pre-contract from January onwards.

Arsenal have plenty of centre-backs right now. But the likes of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi are all-but-certain to leave, with David Luiz’s contract also expiring in the summer.

Then there are players like Rob Holding and Calum Chambers with uncertain futures at the club. William Saliba, Pablo Mari, and Gabriel Magalhaes are the only three we can pretty safely say should stay next summer.

Boateng is in his thirties, as mentioned, but David Luiz is 33, Thiago Silva is 36, and Spurs recently handed a three-year deal to 31-year-old Toby Alderweireld, so it’s not like the potential buyers are totally against deals of that nature.

Whether there’s actually anything to the Arsenal links, we’ll see. There were certainly a lot of reports on the Gunners and Boateng earlier this year.