HSV Hamburg’s new sporting director Kathleen Krüger has promised they will look for creative solutions to sign Fabio Vieira permanently from Arsenal this summer.
Hamburger Abendblatt report comments from her today from a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. She’s made it clear that the Arsenal man remains firmly on their radar.
Arsenal man wanted permanently
Fabio Vieira spent last season at the German club on loan from Arsenal. He went on to establish himself as a key player at the club, eventually putting in a series of impressive performances.
They had a clause to make the deal a permanent one this summer but elected to let that slide for financial reasons. The hope, instead, is to find a different agreement with Arsenal for a more agreeable sum.
Sport Witness have covered various reports on the topic over the last few months. The last of those explained that Hamburg may be forced to wait until late into the window to try and get a deal done.
That, though, is a risk path to follow as Nottingham Forest are also interested in the 26-year-old this summer. That could be a problem for Krüger, who admits she is a big fan of the Arsenal man.
“Fabio is an outstanding player,” he said.
“Technically incredibly skilful. He brings unpredictability to the game, scores reliably and is a gamechanger. I’d love it if he could wear the HSV shirt again next season. At the same time, we have to be realistic. Players of this calibre are in a price bracket that HSV simply cannot afford.”
Arsenal asking price
The big problem is Arsenal’s asking price, though. And she admits that they will need to find a creative solution to work around that hurdle.
“We have an economic gap to make up over the past few years. That price is out of the question for us,” she added.
Abendblatt then provide their own information. According to them, Hamburg official hope they can ‘drive the price down significantly’ from the €22m purchase option that was included in the loan deal.
The hope, it seems, is to let the affair drag out and pray no other suitors offer Arsenal a big price. Then a price of €10m would be ‘conceivable’ for the German side. That, though, may take patience.