Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka has dismissed claims he will be joining Bayern Munich next summer when his contract expires.
Arsenal, Juventus and Bayern have reportedly all been pursuing the 22 year old, but respected journalist Raphael Honigstein revealed on Twitter last week that the midfielder’s move to the Bundesliga champions was “done.”
Goretzka was quick to refute the story when speaking to reporters at a training camp in Austria. He is quoted by Goal.com as saying:
“I have made a clear point on this issue: if a decision is made, I will communicate it. Since this is not the case, I cannot report anything new.”
Asked specifically about the pre-contract agreement with Bayern, Goretzka was unequivocal in his response:
“There is no agreement, this is complete nonsense!”
Sport Bild have reported that the German is refusing to sign a new contract at Schalke, and with the player only having a year left on his current deal, the Bundesliga side may be forced to sell the player before the end of the transfer window if they don’t want him to leave on a free transfer.
Schalke sporting director Christian Heidel has however publicly stated they wouldn’t consider selling the player for between €20m or €30m, indicating a fee above that amount could seal a transfer for the Germany international.
