Mikel Arteta frustrates
Mikel Arteta frustrates
A winger who starts the season with three goals does not stay quietly on a deal that has two years left. The club that owns him opens talks first. The clubs that watched him in August wait to see if those talks close.
Premier League sides prefer a January signing who already knows the league. Speed on the left is the profile that went missing when three attackers left one club in the same summer.
Fourth in the table after five games is how a selling club finds the nerve to say no.
READ MORE: Barcelona midfielder offered to Arsenal ahead of January
Sky Sports reports that Brentford have held initial talks with Kevin Schade over a new long-term contract. Lyall Thomas says the move follows his start to the season and growing interest from bigger clubs, including Arsenal and Liverpool.
Schade has three goals as Brentford sit unbeaten and fourth, with home wins over Tottenham and Chelsea and three draws. Chelsea and Tottenham have tracked him for some time. Arsenal and Liverpool were thought to be the keenest as the summer window shut.
He joined from Freiburg for £20million in June 2023 after an earlier loan. That deal runs to the summer of 2028, which leaves two years. Brentford want improved terms before anyone returns in January.
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Keith Andrews, the Brentford manager, said: “I’m not quite sure how far these talks have progressed, but from my perspective, it’s not something I get involved in too much when it comes to that type of negotiation. For me, it’s just about wanting to keep Kevin at the club.”
The 24-year-old is a Germany international and started Jurgen Klopp’s first match in charge. He has 25 goals and nine assists in 119 Brentford appearances.
Arsenal sold Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson in the summer and signed Christos Tzolis as the new wide option. Eberechi Eze has also been used on the left. A direct, fast winger was the profile they did not land before deadline day.
Nothing in the Sky report says Arsenal have bid, or that talks with Schade are close to a move. It says they monitored him, they were among the keenest in August, and Brentford are now trying to tie him down.
A new contract would not end interest. It would raise the fee. Two years left is already a number Brentford can work with. An extension is how they keep control of it.
For Arsenal the left side is still the open question after the summer. Schade is one Premier League answer. Brentford’s first answer is to pay him more to stay.