Sky Germany reports that Deniz Undav’s move to VfB Stuttgart is on the verge of collapse after Brighton and the Bundesliga side were unable to agree on a transfer fee.
Brighton had originally rejected Stuttgart’s first offer for the 28-year-old which was said to be worth around €23m. So, VfB proposed a new offer said to be worth around €27-30m which the Seagulls once again rejected as they would like even more money for the striker.
Stuttgart are unlikely to make another bid for Undav as they have a financial limit on the amount that they could spend on a player. If Undav had moved, the transfer fee would have smashed Stuttgart’s transfer record which was set earlier in the window when Ermedin Demirovic joined from Augsburg.
VfB will now look at alternative options for the striker position. It has previously been reported that Genoa’s Albert Guðmundsson and Rennes’ Arnaud Kalimuendo are of interest.
This means that despite qualifying for the Champions League, Stuttgart would have lost four key players from last season with Serhou Guirassy, Waldemar Anton (both Borussia Dortmund), Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich) and Deniz Undav (expiry of his loan) all leaving the club.
Although Stuttgart has had a good transfer window in terms of planning and preparing for the future, the loss of key players and the inability to fully replace them does leave a sour taste.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
