Arsenal + Man Utd Handed Boost In Pursuit Of £47m World Cup Star

With the January transfer window just around the corner managers are getting ready to strengthen their squads ahead of the second half of the season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Arsenal and Man Utd target Mats Hummels slams Borussia Dortmund.

Arsenal and Man Utd have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Mats Hummels after the defender hit out at Borussia Dortmund for their ‘pathetic’ form this season, according to reports.

Hummel’s future at the Westfalenstadion has been thrown into doubt in recent months as talks over a contract extension continue to stall and understandably he’s attracting interest from a number of top European clubs.

Arsenal and Manchester United have been strongly linked with a move for the German international in recent  months with both Arsene Wenger and Louis van Gaal hoping to strengthen their defences this winter.

The duo have now been put on red-alert after Hummels has come out and publicly slammed Dortmund’s poor form this season with the 26-year-old branding the team as ‘pathetic’.

The centre-back says that injuries to key players haven’t helped their cause but worrying for Dortmund, their skipper feels there is no guarantee things will improve during the second half of the season.

“It’s pretty astonishing that we are so pathetic,”

“There is no guarantee that it will get better. There just isn’t. Almost every key player was injured in the first round [of the season].

“We have played as badly as imaginable. We’re very concerned. The way we’re playing, we’re right down there.

“If we have all the strongest players back by the end of January then it will be different but there’s no guarantee of that.

“Three or four important players could get injured. Then we’ll have to deal with it differently from in the first round.” Hummels is quoted as saying by the Daily Star

Dortmund go into the winter break sitting joinT-bottom of the Bundesliga table after losing 2-1 to Werder Bremen at the weekend, so Hummels has every right to be concerned about their disastrous first half to the season.

However, the German club may have hoped their captain would come out with a ‘battle cry’ to get his team-mates motivated rather than lay into them for their poor form, and it’s clear Hummels isn’t content with life right now.

Therefore, the likes of Arsenal and United may feel this is the perfect opportunity to make their move and try and lure the centre-back to the Premier League this winter.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Man Utd transfer news

The Daily Star claim that Dortmund would demand a fee in the region of £47m but it remains to be seen whether either club would be prepared to pay that kind of money for a defender.

Hummels played a key role in leading Germany to the World Cup in the summer and he’d be a sensational coup for Arsenal or United if they could pull off his signature before Dortmund get their Bundesliga campaign back up and running against Bayer Leverkusen on January 31st.