Bayern Munich are reportedly looking to compete with Chelsea for the signing of Borussia Dortmund winger.

Bayern Munich have suffered another setback in the transfer market this week. Nico Williams had emerged as Die Roten’s preferred option to strengthen the left flank. However, the Spanish winger is prioritizing a move to Barcelona over Bayern.

The Bundesliga champions are reportedly ready to make an improved contract offer to Williams. However, the 22-year-old winger has his heart set on a move to Barcelona. He has already agreed on personal terms with the Spanish champions. Bayern are still monitoring his situation, but it will take a massive turnaround for him to land in Bavaria this summer.

Die Roten are also looking at several other targets to strengthen the attack. Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola features high on the list of targets at Bayern, but the European champions have no intention to sell the French winger.

According to L’Equipe, Bayern have also revived their interest in Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens. The 20-year-old winger is expected to leave Dortmund this summer. SportBild’s Christian Falk has also confirmed that Bayern still retain an interest in Gittens.

Chelsea had two bids rejected for Gittens earlier this month. The Premier League side has already agreed a long-term contract with the winger.

Dortmund are looking for a fee closer to €65 million for Gittens. Bayern will have to agree terms with the winger before making a bid for him. Chelsea currently have the edge over them since they are already in negotiations with Dortmund.

Gittens will be a long-term signing for Bayern
Unlike Williams, Gittens doesn’t have a significant amount of experience at the top level. He has excelled for Dortmund this season, scoring 12 goals across all competitions. Bayern will be paying for a player who can be part of the squad in the long run instead of getting instant returns.

The familiarity with Bundesliga works in favour of Gittens. He will likely take very little time to adapt, but his output may not be impressive from the word go.

The signing of Gittens will definitely work for Bayern if the likes of Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman are staying in Bavaria beyond the summer. Vincent Kompany will have the right mix of experience and youth on the left flank.

Dortmund will prefer selling Gittens to Chelsea instead of their arch-rivals. It will eventually come down to what Gittens wants at this stage of his career. He has given the nod to Chelsea, but maybe his decision can change if Bayern come calling for him.

Bayernstrikes.com

Feyenoord star Quilindschy Hartman will soon fly to complete his move to Burnley after the Clarets agreed a fee for his services with the Dutch giants.

Burnley are back in the Premier League and in the summer transfer window, they want to build a squad that will be able to withstand the challenges of the Premier League.

Scott Parker will be hoping that he will receive the backing of the Clarets management to bring in the players necessary to help them stay up.

Burnley have already triggered Bashir Humphreys purchase option in his loan from Chelsea to strengthen the left-back position, but they want to add more in that area.

The newly promoted Premier League outfit have had their eyes on Feyenoord star Hartman, who is a product of the Dutch team’s academy system.

The 23-year-old’s last season was marred due to injury and he only managed to make 12 appearances for the Eredivisie side.

Burnley are long-time admirers of Hartman, as they tried to sign him in 2023 and his current contract with Feyenoord set to expire in 2026.

Now, according to Dutch outlet 1908.nl, Burnley have managed to agree a deal with Feyenoord to secure the signature of Hartman and he is soon to fly to England to complete his signing.

It is suggested that Burnley submitted a bid in the region of €7m to the Dutch giants and accelerated their efforts to complete the deal.

Hartman featured 83 times for Feyenoord and with him entering the final year of his contract, he was not interested in extending his stay further.

With him entering the last 12 months of the deal, Feyenoord were at risk of losing him on a free transfer and they decided to cash in on him.

He must pass a medical and agree personal terms now to seal the move.

Insidefutbol.com

Liverpool have agreed a £40m deal to sign left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth.

The 21-year-old Hungary international is set to join the Premier League champions after two seasons with the Cherries.

Bournemouth have already signed Adrien Truffert from Rennes as his replacement.

Liverpool’s deal for Kerkez comes with the Reds close to completing a club-record £116m move for Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz.

They have also signed Dutch right-back Jeremie Frimpong from the German club for £29.5m.

Serbia-born Kerkez began his senior career at Hungarian side Gyor before a move to Italian club AC Milan.

He failed to make an appearance for the Serie A outfit before a switch to Dutch team AZ Alkmaar in January 2022.

He helped AZ Alkmaar finish fourth in the Dutch top flight in 2022-23 when he scored five goals and provided seven assists in 52 appearances.

The Eredivisie side also reached the semi-finals of the 2022-23 Europa Conference League before being beaten by eventual winners West Ham.

Kerkez joined Bournemouth in summer 2023 when Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes worked for the Cherries.

He played all 38 league games last season as Bournemouth finished ninth with a club-record 56 Premier League points, with Kerkez contributing two goals and six assists.

Kerkez, who has made 23 appearances for Hungary, will join compatriot Dominik Szoboszlai at Liverpool.

His expected arrival at Anfield leaves the future of Reds left-backs Andy Robertson, who has been linked with Atletico Madrid, and Kostas Tsimikas unclear.

Liverpool are keen to retain Robertson and allow current back-up Tsimikas to leave, but they acknowledge that 31-year-old Scot Robertson may want to move on in search of regular football.

Why doesn’t Liverpool target Kerkez represent Serbia?

In terms of how Liverpool play football, Kerkez appears the perfect full-back.

Although former manager Jurgen Klopp’s ‘heavy metal’ style of fast-paced, high-pressing football has been adapted by successor Arne Slot, the fundamentals of aggressive pressing – albeit in a more structured way – and trying to win the ball high up the pitch still remain.

The 21-year-old recovered the ball 169 times last season – the fifth-most of any defender in the Premier League and more than any Liverpool defender. He also won the ball in the Cherries’ attacking third 11 times – the ninth most of defenders in the division and again more than any of his potential future Reds team-mates.

In a Bournemouth team that eventually finished ninth, the Hungary international created 34 chances from open play – the seventh most by a defender – and registered five assists, which placed him joint-fourth in that ranking.

His 142 crosses were the sixth-most and his eight big chances created was the seventh most among defenders.

In terms of ball progression, Kerkez passed into the final third 476 times – the 10th most times of any Premier League defender, while no Liverpool defender completed more dribbles than his 22.

The statistics show Kerkez is well placed to adapt at Anfield in terms of what Slot requires from his full-backs both defensively and offensively.

Bbc.com