Patrick Rees
Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka has reportedly become a target for Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool and we might be up for an intense transfer battle as the youngster will be a free agent at the end of current season.
The 22-year-old, who was once dubbed as the “talent of the century”, has entered the final year of his contract and has refused to sign a new deal. That being said, he will be a free agent next summer, and has attracted the interest from a host of European clubs.
German news outlet Bild has credited the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City with a strong interest while at the same time, Barcelona and Bayern Munich remain in the race as well.
It certainly isn’t the first time Goretzka has been linked with a move to the Premier League as earlier, it was Arsenal who showed an interest. A move, however, failed to materialise for some reason. The same source (Bild) further adds that Goreztka is being rated at around £62million and it is all down to the inflated transfer scenario.
This summer, it was reported that Goretzka, who captained the German team in 2016 Summer Olympics, had already agreed to join Bayern Munich.
The midfielder did stay put, but question marks regarding his future are still doing the rounds. Schalke certainly want him to extend his contract, but the player is yet to put pen to the papers. The club, on their part, have stated that Goretzka’s future will be sorted out by the winter transfer window.
“I’d like to think that by the winter break we will have clarity,” Schalke sporting executive Christian Heidel told Sport Bild.
Practically, moving to Barcelona would make more sense as Goretzka, at Camp Nou, will be seen as a replacement of Andres Iniesta who is close to hanging up his boots. The Catalans thought that Andre Gomes would click, but the Portuguese international has failed to live upto the billing. It now remains to be seen how the speculation folds up at the end of the season.
