Arrivals
Piero Hincapie has signed with Bayer Leverkusen, according to Gustavo Villacreses, an Ecuadorian sports journalist of Area Deportiva, on Twitter. The 19-year-old has signed a deal until 2025 and the fee should be between €7m and €8m. A more well known and respected source, Cesar Luis Merlo had said there was a verbal agreement between the club and the player yesterday evening with the player travelling to Germany to do a medical. It should not be long before the official announcement!
Robert Andrich has long been in agreement with the Werkself but up until now, it had been assumed that he would be joining us next season for free once his contract expired. This has changed drastically as the Sky Transfer Show yesterday evening revealed that he is due to come this summer and the transfer could be announced as early as after the match against Union Berlin this weekend! Given our current depth in central midfield, it doesn't make a lot of sense but with Andrich, you get a real leader - something which is of course lacking in our very young squad.
Now for a very high-profile name - Xherdan Shaqiri. The 29-year-old Liverpool playmaker should arouse the interest of Bayer 04, according to L'Equipe. along with Villarreal, Lyon (who allegedly have made an offer), Napoli, Lazio and AC Milan. Liverpool want around €15m for him as although he has a contract which expires in 2022, it has an option to extend for another year. Shaqiri would be able to help us immediately but he would have to forego a large chunk of his salary. On his day, he was known as the Alpine Messi but given his injuries and general lack of playing time at Liverpool, can he ever return to that level?
Another winger now, Vitinho of Sao Paulo. GE Globo claim we have asked about the 20-year-old, who has not yet made his professional debut, and that Sao Paulo expect a proposal. He is valued at just €300k and hasn't played for any of Brazil's youth teams so the news that a club like ours is interested comes as a big surprise. He would at least be cheap so therefore low-risk.
Departures
Wendell has allegedly been approached by representatives of Gremio about a potential return to the Brazilian club. According to the Vice President of Football at Gremio, Marcos Herrmann, however, he wants to stay in Europe this summer. This would fit with previous information which said that he would leave for Gremio once his contract ran out (via his Instagram Live) and also his links to Portuguese giants Benfica. Gremio do not want to sign a left-back this summer at all so that should dispel any rumours, for this summer at least.
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