Arsenal yet to make official contact for Bundesliga £16m-rated centre-back

Bundesliga side Freiburg’s sporting director Klemens Hartenbach has been forced to deny states that the London-based outfit Arsenal have made an approach to land defender Caglar Soyuncu.

Speaking to the German tabloid newspaper Bild, Hartenbach confirmed that the central defender is very much in the club’s plans for the forthcoming campaign.

“Arsenal have never approached us. We assume that Soyuncu plays with us next year. We plan completely with him.”

Soyuncu has been heavily connected with a move to Arsenal for a while.

He is a player that head of recruitments Sven Mislintat has reportedly had his eyes on and would be interested in bringing to London, in spite of the summer additions to the club’s backline.

Greek central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Swiss full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner have already arrived in London this transfer window, but Unai Emery may not have completed his summer transfer business.


Caglar is one of the most highly-rated young centre-backs in the Bundesliga and previous reports had suggested he was on his way to the Emirates Stadium, but a deal does not appear to be so simple.