Arrivals
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, supported by Fabrizio Romano, Leverkusen are said to be ready to offer €18m for Iranian international Sardar Azmoun. He is also wanted by Jose Mourinho's Roma who would rather attempt a player + cash deal. Azmoun, a long-term target for Bayer since his Rubin Kazan days, set the Russian Premier League alight last year with Zenit, boasting 25 goal contributions in just 24 games. Might this mean an exit from either Schick or Alario? We may want to cash in after Schick's mesmeric Euros and Alario has been linked to Real Betis and Sevilla in the somewhat recent past. On the other hand, Seoane may want to stick with a two striker formation like he had at Bern. Zenit should make their decision about the player's future 'soon'.
Yesterday's Sky Transfer Show announced we were in talks with Piero Hincapie, a 19-year-old centre back who plays for Talleres in Argentina and the Ecuadorian national team. Despite his tender years he already has 5 senior caps to his name, participating in this summer's Copa America. He is left-footed and could cost around €10m with a number of top European sides interested including Bayern Munich.
Liverpool's Nat Phillips is valued at £15m according to @JamesPearceLFC. After shelling out on Kossounou, I expect our interest to dissipate very quickly and instead look for a cheaper option like Hincapie and/or trust Retsos to play a role with us next season.
According to TransferMarketWeb, citing Fabrizio Romano, Bayer Leverkusen is preparing an increased offer for Norwegian wonderkind Jens Petter Hauge of AC Milan, perhaps in anticipation of an exit from Leon Bailey. In the last transfer window, we had asked for him on loan but this time, we would want him permanently. Milan demand a minimum of €12m for the winger.
Departures
Tin Jedvaj's move to Lokomotiv Moscow has finally been announced officially. He signs a contract lasting until 2025 and we receive €6m for the transfer. Starting off as a very promising talent, injuries unfortunately hampered his career under the Bayer cross but at least he enjoyed success internationally finishing runners up with Croatia at the 2018 World Cup. It will be interesting to watch his development at Moscow where he promises to be a regular player. Best of luck Tin!
Sport Bild reports a summer transfer for Jonathan Tah is now off the table. New coach Gerardo Seoane spoke very highly of him, expecting him to take the 'next step' personality-wise and to 'help fill the space the Bender's left behind'. Does this signify a Tah captaincy? Tah remaining at the club would certainly relax the pressure to rush for new defenders but at the same time would mean other players might need to leave to raise additional funds.
Thoughts on the Freiburg game
Yesterday was a game of firsts for many reasons. It of course was a debut for Seoane, Bakker and Lunev, but also the first game of preseason for all involved in black and red due to the devastating floods that hit Leverkusen and the rest of NRW. Understandably it showed as we fought to a 0-0 final score with one of Seoane's biggest compliments being that so many players lasted 60 minutes, impressive given how under him we had less time on the ball and appeared to press quite fiercely. In terms of individual performances, in my view Wirtz was man of the match. He looked sharp and his technique was on point, at one stage in the first half embarrassing two Freiburg defenders as he somehow created a chance for himself to shoot on goal. Bakker also did well, getting up the pitch and playing a couple of dangerous passes into the penalty area. At times he did leave gaping holes in behind for Freiburg to exploit but that is more down to our tactics than his performance. Lunev naturally put on a good display in goal as well preserving our clean sheet, though Freiburg's players were having as much of a nightmare in the penalty area as our own. Tah and Retsos were strong, making some big tackles and the former being very unlucky to not have scored the winner in the dying moments of the game. Our biggest weakness on display was, as often the case last season, our exploitation of opportunities but given Alario, Schick and Bailey were absent I think we can cut the team some slack this time around. All in all, we cannot really take too much from this game but I expect an improved performance on Wednesday against Utrecht!
Comments