FC Barcelona are doing everything possible to sign Gundogan

According to the German newspaper 'Bild', Dortmund midfielder İlkay Gündoğan has been approached by the Spanish giants.

FC Barcelona are doing everything possible to sign İlkay Gundogan

FC Barcelona have met with Gündoğan's agents (his father and uncle) several times not and are desperate to bring him to Camp Nou.

The club apparently wants to him to replace Xavi Hernandez, who is said to have agreed terms with the American side New York Red Bulls.

Gündoğan has also been linked with other top clubs, mainly Manchester United and Real Madrid, but the midfielder has made it clear that he will make his decision very wisely. He said: ‘I have not made a final decision yet. BVB are the first team I am talking to.

‘I will soon make a well-thought decision. But I am keeping my options open at this point.

‘Borussia Dortmund have not set me an ultimatum. I am just trying to get healthy again and get back to my best form. That’s the main priority for BVB and for myself.’

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Dortmund set to make fourth summer signing

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has confirmed the Champions League runners-up are looking to bring in another player based outside of Germany.

Jurgen Klopp's squad has already been bolstered by attackers Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos this summer.

However, the Ruhr giants are not finished with their recruitment drive and are currently targeting an unnamed foreigner.

"I could tell you a lot, but I'll be careful not to do too much," he told Spox. "He's not coming from the Bundesliga and we are working to complete the transfer."

Dortmund kick off their season with the DFL-Supercup curtain-raiser against Bayern Munich at Signal Iduna Park on July 27.

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De Boer opens door to Eriksen exit

Ajax coach Frank de Boer has admitted he would not prevent Christian Eriksen from leaving the club this summer.

The Danish playmaker, who has just one year left on his contract at the Amsterdam Arena has been heavily linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool amongst others.

And De Boer says he would let the 21-year-old move to Anfield if he chose to do so. 

"It is up to Christian what he wants," the Dutchman told reporters.

"If he feels good going to Liverpool, then it is up to him. I would want nothing more than having him with us for a few more years.

"But we realise the interest in this kind of player is huge. And I can also understand that he wants to make another step in his career. I can't stop him."

Eriksen first moved to Ajax as a teenager back in 2008.

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Sobiech leaves Dortmund to join HSV

Borussia Dortmund have confirmed that young defender Lasse Sobiech has left the club for Hamburg for an undisclosed fee.

HSV were keen to add some more depth to their defence and they see the 22-year-old Sobiech as a valuable addition to their squad. 

The centre-back has signed a contract until the summer of 2016 with Thorsten Fink's outfit, and he admitted HSV's determination to seal the move helped sway his decision.

"I had already agreed terms with HSV a while ago and was determined to move here. The fact that really wanted me was vital in my decision to join,  Sobiech told the official Hamburg website.

"I want to get as much playing time as possible. The most important thing now is to integrate into the team."

Sobiech is a product of the Dortmund youth academy, but he failed to break into the first team with the Champions League finalists.

He spent last season on loan at Greuther Furth after previously wearing the St. Pauli jersey on a temporary basis.

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Dortmund confirm Mkhitaryan deal

The 24-year-old Armenia forward will sign a deal in the next few days following successful talks between the BVB and Shakhtar

Borussia Dortmund have confirmed on their official club website that they have agreed a deal to sign highly sought-after Shakhtar Donetsk attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Mkhitaryan, 24, will complete a switch to Dortmund later this week for a fee reported to be around €25 million and will sign a four-year deal with the Bundesliga runners-up.

The Armenia forward, who also plays in midfield, completed his medical with BVB on Monday and although a contract is yet to be signed, the stock market has been alerted.

A statement on the German club's official website read: "Borussia Dortmund AG and FC Shakhtar Donetsk have agreed on the transfer of the Armenian international Henrikh Mkhitaryan, born on 21 January 1989, to Borussia Dortmund.

"Borussia Dortmund and the player have reached a general agreement about the financial conditions of a contract running until 30 June 2017. Details are yet to be agreed upon."

Mkhitaryan joins Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Saint-Etienne and Werder Bremen, respectively, as Dortmund's latest recruits since losing Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich.

Mkhitaryan, who was also wanted by Liverpool this summer, scored 44 goals in 106 matches for Shakhtar.

Source : Goal

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Jose Mourinho to splash the cash on one of three top strikers

The new boss is hoping to top the record £50million fee owner Roman Abramovich paid Liverpool for Fernando Torres on one of three top striker targets.

Chelsea are expected to offer Napoli a reported £50million-plus for their first choice, Uruguyan striker Edinson Cavani, with whom they are understood to have already agreed personal terms.

If that fails – probably because Paris Saint-Germain are seemingly prepared to pay the £56million the Italians want for Cavani – Abramovich and co are expected to switch their attentions to the Brazilian striker, Hulk, who has indicated his willingness to quit Zenit St Petersburg despite a lucrative contract that doesn’t expire until 2017. to offer Napoli a reported £50million-plus for their first choice, Uruguyan striker Edinson Cavani, with whom they are understood to have already agreed personal terms

Their third choice is the much sought after Polish international Robert Lewandowski, who has only a year left on his contract with Borussia Dortmund.

The Germans don’t want to sell him, but if he forces their hand they would prefer him to go to Chelsea rather than Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich, the club the player himself fancies.

Mourinho wants at least one of them as competition for Fernando Torres and Romelu Lukaku, especially as he has indicated that he is prepared to let Demba Ba go little more than six months after Chelsea signed him from Newcastle.

The big spending Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala have already been linked with him even though he has indicated that he wants to stay at Stamford Bridge.

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Klopp: Lewandowski will join Bayern next year

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp believes star striker Robert Lewandowski will be a Bayern Munich player the season after next.

Lewandowski's future has been the source of much speculation over the last few months, with a host of Europe's leading clubs coveting the prolific Poland international.

For a while it looked as though Lewandowski, whose contract at the Westfalenstadion runs out in 2014, was destined to join Bayern once the recently-completed campaign was over, but Dortmund have ruled out selling the 24-year-old to any team - domestic or foreign - this summer.

However, Klopp feels it is only a matter of time before Lewandowski, who has also been linked with Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City, will be seen in Bayern colours.

"I believe it's a fact that Robert Lewandowski will move to Bayern after the coming season," Klopp told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

"Now it's about this: how do we build in the time until then? That is our concern, and it is our duty to our fans and members to take care that in the coming season we also have a more than competitive team.

"Up until a certain point we were ready to talk, concerning Robert's desire for change. But as nothing happened in this time, we had to say at some point: That is no longer happening.

"And now we want to prove that we can develop, with a quality player like Robert, in the coming year. Our results in the coming season are the most important thing. And with Robert I know that he also sees it like that."

Lewandowski has scored 54 goals in 98 Bundesliga appearances for Dortmund and became the first player to score four goals in a semi-final of the Champions League when he single-handedly dismantled Real Madrid.

He was unable to fire Dortmund to victory in the final though as Bayern claimed a 2-1 win at Wembley thanks to a last-gasp Arjen Robben goal.

Source : ESPN

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Aubameyang set to sign for Dortmund

It has been a transfer saga that has rolled on since before Christmas, which has included clubs from all over Europe showing an interest and now left thousands of fans disappointed. It is finally over though. It is understood that Aubameyang has agreed personal terms with German side Borussia Dortmund and according to some has already taken a medical. A fee between the clubs still now needs to be agreed, but it is suggested that talks between the two clubs are close to completion and that Aubameyang will be a Dortmund player “today or tomorrow”.

It is claimed that Aubameyang will sign a 5 year deal with Dortmund until 2018 and the two sides are set to agree a fee of between €13 Million to €15 Million euros. This may confuse many people, but one has to realise that during a transfer saga, such as this, which has gone on for so long, with so many clubs involved, many false rumours will come out which people prefer to believe as it gives them hope that they will sign the player. For example, Everton were said to have joined the race for the player, which we can confirm never happened and as much as we are unable to deny them, bids from Newcastle and Anzhi which were supposedly around the 20 Million euro mark now look less likely to have actually occurred.

Having said that, Aubameyang always said that he wanted Champions League football and the clubs in England which showed an interest in him were simply not able to provide that. If Aubameyang continues his brilliant form from the last two seasons, then he will really be able to make an impact at the German side and maybe move on to greater things from there.

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Mauricio Pochettino rules out Gaston Ramirez exit

Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino insists Gaston Ramirez will remain at St Mary's in the summer.

The Saints smashed their transfer record with a bid of £12m to bring Ramirez from Bologna last year, but the Uruguay international struggled to find his feet in the Premier League.

Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid are both believed to be interested in Ramirez if he wants to leave England, but Pochettino has no intention to sell the midfielder.

"He's happy with us and we are counting on him for next season," he said.

"It's normal that a lot of clubs are interested in his quality, but we don't listen to transfer rumours. We are planning for next season with him on board."

Southampton have made just one signing, with centre-back Dejan Lovren joining from Lyon in an £8.5m deal, and Pochettino admits this arrival ended his interest in Cagliari centre-back Davide Astori.

"Lots of names have been linked with Southampton, perhaps too many," he said. "Some of them have been invented, others not.

"We were after Astori, for example, but in the end we went for Lovren instead. He's a great player."

Pochettino dismissed claims of a possible move for Astori's Cagliari team-mate Radja Nainggolan and also ruled out an approach for Roma's Pablo Osvaldo.

Reports suggested the striker rejected a £17m move to Saints, but the Argentinian insisted he did not make an offer for Osvaldo, who played under him during his spell as a manager in Spain.

"Osvaldo is a great player," Pochettino said. "I worked with him at Espanyol so I know what he can do.

"We are aware of his situation at Roma, but we haven't made an offer.

"We have a clear idea of what our targets should be but the market is moving very slowly at the moment. We are working prudently to reinforce the squad."

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