Wednesday, 26th June, 2013
Bundesliga club Hamburg are looking to bring in Arsenal centre-back Johan Djourou to bolster their defence for the upcoming 2013/14 campaign, with the club confident that a forthcoming deal is looking "optimistic".
If ever Hamburg were interested in signing the Swiss central defender long before, they have certainly kept it under wraps until recently. Indeed, it was another German club, Hannover, who were able to seal a loan deal for the 26-year-old from Arsenal last January.
The Gunners loanee then stamped his mark at the AWD-Arena, making a total 14 league appearance for Die Roten and helping the club reach a 9th place finish – a productive stay that opened the possibility of Djourou making his Hannover stint permanent.
But Hamburg then decided to sound their horn towards Djourou and believe they have ever chance of sealing a deal that would reel in Djourou to the Imtech Arena.
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Fast-forward a few days and Die Rothosen appear confident they can get their man, with the club’s sporting director Oliver Kreuzer telling German daily Bild: "I have a feeling Djourou will be playing with Hamburg come next season. I am very, very optimistic [a deal can be done]."
However, the Hamburg official admitted that bringing in the centre-back would require the removal of excess baggage, and he already has some expendable players in mind.
"In the coming days, I will speak with the agents of [Michael] Mancienne, [Slobodan] Rajkovic and [Paul] Scharner to find a solution that satisfies everyone", Kreuzer concluded.
Djourou’s current contract with Arsenal is set to expire come 2015.
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