Arsenal

Trio Set To Table Rival Bids After Liverpool Make €19m Offer For German Ace

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are expected to launch rival bids for Sami Khedira after Liverpool tabled an opening €19m offer for the German midfielder

by
Transfer News Reporter
June 20, 2014

As we approach the opening of the summer window clubs will be intensifying their efforts in the transfer market so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, the race for Sami Khedira hots up.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are expected to launch rival bids for Sami Khedira after Liverpool tabled an opening €19m offer for the German midfielder, according to reports.

Khedira has played a key role for Madrid over the last four seasons after joining the club from Stuttgart in 2010 but after being virtually ever-present in previous years, he missed the majority of last season with a serious knee injury.

In his absence, Luka Modric impressed alongside Xabi Alonso at the heart of the Madrid midfield and reports last week claimed that Carlo Ancelotti had called off planned contract extension talks after informing Khedira he was no longer in his first team plans.

With just one year remaining on his current deal , understandably this has led to speculation that he could be on the move this summer and it appears he has no shortage of takers here in the Premier League.

Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea have all been strongly linked with the 27-year-old in recent weeks but the Daily Star claim that Liverpool have now entered the chase and made the first move with an opening bid of €19m (£15m).

Whether that will be enough to persuade Madrid to cash-in remains to be seen but the Spaniard’s will be hoping for a bidding war as the newspaper suggests that Arsenal, Chelsea and United are all expected to submit rival offers shortly.

Arsene Wenger is likely to be in the market for a long-term replacement for Mikel Arteta this summer and Khedira would be an excellent option, and the Gunners will hope to use his close relationship with Mesut Ozil to help lure the German international to the Emirates.

Despite the recent signing of Cesc Fabregas, Jose Mourinho is also expected to bring in a more defensive-minded midfielder to replace David Luiz and the Portuguese coach knows Khedira well from their time together at the Bernabeu, so that could help tip things in his favour.

New United boss Louis van Gaal is going to be busy in the market this summer as he tries to rebuild the squad he’s inherited from David Moyes and a top class central midfielder is understood to be high on his priority list, and the Real Madrid man would certainly add some quality to the deposed champions.

Obviously Liverpool fans will be heartened by the news they have made a bid for a player of Khedira’s stature, but it looks like a deal is still some way off and they will have to fight off some serious competition if they want to land the German international after the World Cup.