Bayern Munich have set an asking price for Serge Gnabry, whose departure is growing more and more likely as they hope to avoid losing him for free.

BILD report that Bayern Munich’s asking price for Serge Gnabry is €40m (£34m) this summer, as they look to avoid the winger running down his contract and leaving on a free transfer in 2023.

Bayern have reportedly grown disappointed in Gnabry during their contract negotiations and are no longer willing to offer him a new deal. Instead, a departure looks likely, with Real Madrid circling.

Christian Falk reported this week that Arsenal are interested in re-signing Serge Gnabry too.

With those links to Arsenal, I’m sure many fans are rubbing their hands together at the sight of a £34m fee to bring Gnabry back.

But before you get too excited, there’s a major catch.

Part of the reason Bayern have failed to extend Gnabry’s deal is that he’s reportedly asking for as much as €20m-a-year in wages. That’s well over £300,000-a-week.

If Arsenal offered Gnabry a five-year deal with those wages and a £34m fee, they’d be paying close to £120m for the deal – with little resale value for the 32-year-old at the end of it.

Maybe it’s worth it, but it’s clearly not as cut-and-dry as the £34m fee appears in isolation. Arsenal have also been burned by both of the players they previously handed weekly wages of £300k+.

In 45 appearances for Bayern in 2021/22, Gnabry has reached 17 goals and eight assists, most recently scoring in the game that won them their 10th consecutive Bundesliga title.

For the German national team, where he plays centrally more regularly, Gnabry has 20 goals in 31 appearances.