Premier League trio are all on the trail of super young playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu.
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Premier League trio Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are gearing up for a transfer face-off when it comes to the signature of young Hamburg playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu, according to reports from the Express today.
The 20 year-old stood out like a diamond in the gutter at Hamburg last season, impressing with his creativity in midfield despite his famous team only staying up by virtue of goal difference in their Bundesliga relegation play-off against Greuther Furth.
According to the Express, the three are considering bids of around £10 million for Calhanoglu, which is in excess of the amount the Hamburg’s Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen have already seen rejected for the player who already has three senior caps for the Turkish national team to his name.
With Hamburg likely to be more willing to sell the player to the Premier League than to their domestic rivals, it seems likely that an agreement could be reached with Calhanoglu unlikely to be staying at the underachieving club this summer.
All three clubs would have uses for Calhanoglu, but there are also question marks over whether spending an eight figure fee on the player would be advisable considering the strength that they already have in midfield.
Arsenal already have a number ten who is unlikely to be shifted from the team, with former Bundesliga star and German international Mesut Ozil being the Gunners’ record transfer – albeit the player, from a Turkish background, did not show his best form in his first season at the Emirates Stadium.
Chelsea, meanwhile, appear to be well-stocked for attacking midfielders, with the likes of Willian, Oscar, Eden Hazard and Mohammed Salah all battling for their place in the line of players that are likely to support expected new signing Diego Costa.
With Cesc Fabregas also having signed to play in a deeper role, it is hard to see where Calhanoglu would fit in at Stamford Bridge, but this is not something that has tended to stop Chelsea from splashing out on potential in the past.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are reported to have the most serious interest – with Brendan Rodgers having watched the player in person during the 2013/14 season and his scouts having raved about the young midfielder.
With the Reds on the verge of announcing the signing of Adam Lallana from Southampton to compliment Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho in the attacking midfield area of the Reds’ team – although Rodgers does lack a deeper-lying creative presence to take over from Steven Gerrard when the time comes to phase the Liverpool legend out of the team and he may feel that Calhanoglu’s long-term future is in this role.
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