Leroy Sane could yet join Arsenal on a free transfer after Bayern Munich chief Max Eberl revealed he does not want to accept their current new contract proposal.
The Germany international will see his current deal, signed back in 2020, expire in just over a month and while it looked as though the situation had been resolved in April with a full agreement reached, Sane's stance has now seemingly changed.
Speaking about the 29-year-old to Sky Germany after Bayern's 4-0 win against Hoffenheim, Eberl said: "He told us today that he does not want to accept our offer in its current form.
"There’s no bad blood. The offer is on the table. We’ve made our intentions clear. You can sense — at least that’s how I feel — that Leroy wants to stay. Now let’s see what happens in the coming days.”
It was widely reported that terms for a fresh three-year contract had been agreed which put a stop to any exit rumours which included the possibility of a return to the Premier League and reunion with Mikel Arteta after the duo spent time together at Manchester City.
Likely seeing it as a unique market opportunity, Arsenal began seriously considering signing him as a free agent with talks even taking place, as revealed by Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg.
As football.london have already reported, the Gunners would like to sign a wide forward in the summer transfer window. If they can complete that without spending a penny, it is absolutely a deal worth looking into especially as bringing in a striker, back-up goalkeeper and defender are also aims.
Despite Eberl's confidence, until it is officially confirmed there is a chance that Sane completes a switch to Emirates Stadium and his comments about Arteta certainly suggest he would be open to working with the Spaniard again.
"I can just say positive things about Mikel Arteta," he admitted to the Independent after leaving Man City for Bayern when asked about his former coach. "Since we started working together, he has helped me a lot on the pitch.
"He tried to improve my football, he told me what I did good and what I did wrong, and he tried to work on it. Next to Pep, they both really helped me and improved me, to bring me to the next level.
"Even now, at Arsenal, for me, you can see he's doing a great job. You can see he has a concept, a way that he wants to play, a way that he wants his team to play, and obviously, it will take some time until everybody really understands it. I think he will do a great job as a [head] coach too."
After a mixed first few years at Allianz Arena, Sane was linked with a transfer to Arsenal back in 2022. Though he was able to start impressing, a move to north London is yet to be ruled out.