Arsenal need to bring in defensive reinforcements this month and one of those players could be Jerome Boateng – as per sources.
Mikel Arteta lost Calum Chambers to a long-term injury and the manager has admitted that he has now been forced to change his transfer plans.
And reports claim that the Gunners are planning to launch a bid for the ageing Bayern Munich defender.
Up until now, the North London club were pretty confident that they would be able to sign the defender since he is currently 31 years old and Bayern reportedly want to get rid of him.
Now though, the Bayern interim coach Hansi Flick has made it clear that Jerome Boateng will remain at the club despite all the transfer rumours.
“Jerome is a player of Bayern Munich and I will not concern myself with any rumours, that’s what I did the last years,” he told reporters.
“Jerome came back to training well-prepared, he prepared himself on holiday. So, I am curious what the next week will bring.
“But I will not concern myself with thoughts if he will leave the club or not. He didn’t say anything regarding that and we are constantly in an exchange.
“We have to see how these things develop, but right now I cannot picture it [Boateng leaving].”
Jerome Boateng has struggled to break into the first-team this season having played only 9 league games so far this season and this has led many people to believe that Bayern want to get rid of him.
While this statement might very much hold true but as things stand Flick does not want to see a senior pro leave the club during the middle of the season.
UPDATE:
Despite Flick making it clear that Jerome Boateng will not be leaving, the latest updates suggest that Arsenal have made a formal approach towards the signing of the defender.
While Bayern Munich are expected to maintain their stance, Sky Germany are claiming that they will only let the defender leave if an interested club is willing to meet the market value of the player.
