Aston Villa, West Ham in three-team race to sign star Liverpool admire, as club chief makes intriguing exit claim
Former Liverpool target Florian Neuhaus is being eyed by two Prem rivals
Aston Villa, West Ham United and VfB Stuttgart have all reportedly converged on Borussia Monchengladbach star Florian Neuhaus, a player Jurgen Klopp has previously expressed an interest in signing for Liverpool.
Neuhaus is a 26-year-old central midfielder who has been on Gladbach’s books since July 2017, when he joined from 1860 Munich. Neuhaus’ impressive performances for Gladbach saw him earn his German national team debut in October 2020, and so far he has played 10 times for his country, scoring twice.
The 1860 Munich academy graduate possesses an attractive profile as he can operate in the No 6, No 8 and No 10 roles.
Klopp likes those who can play in several different positions or roles and this saw Liverpool target Neuhaus in the summer of 2021. The Reds again looked at Neuhaus last summer, as they looked to complete a midfield overhaul.
Instead, though, Klopp’s engine room was bolstered by the arrivals of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.
But Neuhaus could finally land in the Premier League this year. That is because Aston Villa and West Ham have both been credited with an interest in landing him.
According to German source Bild, there is a good chance the player will leave Gladbach either this month or over the summer.
It is currently Stuttgart who are leading the charge for Neuhaus, as they have held talks with their Bundesliga rivals about an initial loan that could include an option or obligation to buy at the end of the campaign.
Aston Villa, West Ham eye Florian Neuhaus
Although, if Stuttgart fail to snare Neuhaus in the coming days, then they will seriously risk missing out on him to Villa or West Ham. The two English sides have the money to blow Stuttgart away with a major bid, and Neuhaus remaining at Gladbach in January would give them time to draw up such a proposal.
Neuhaus received big praise on Saturday as he put in a brilliant last-ditch challenge to prevent Jeremie Frimpong from scoring for Bayer Leverkusen, helping Gladbach pick up a goalless draw against the league leaders.
After the match, Gladbach’s managing director of sport, Roland Virkus, was quizzed on whether he wanted to keep Neuhaus in the wake of his great performance.
However, Virkus, did little to end the transfer speculation. “Basically, you can’t rule anything out 100 per cent in this business,” he said.
Virkus’ comments will give Villa and West Ham hope of bringing Neuhaus to England, although a lot needs to happen before the move can reach completion.
Villa might need to sign a new midfielder in the near future too, as it has emerged that Jacob Ramsey is the subject of interest from Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.
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