Thursday, April 17, 2014

Arsenal & Chelsea join Atletico Madrid in the race for Hakan Calhanoglu

Arsenal & Chelsea join Atletico Madrid in the race for Hakan Calhanoglu
Chelsea have joined the race for HSV Hamburg wonderkid Hakan Calhanoglu according to NTV Spor

The 20-year-old midfielder is seen as being a potential long term replacement for Frank Lampard.

HSV sporting director Oliver Kreuzer confirmed that Liverpool and Arsenal were interested in January before Calhanoglu signed a two-year contract extension.

"Liverpool and Arsenal are interested. Hakan is not against prolonging his contract, but when Liverpool and Arsenal turn up - the lad might reconsider," Kreuzer told Bild.

Calhanoglu also recently said: "My goal is to play at Hamburg and eventually join a club in England or Spain in the future." 

Atletico Madrid have also been closely linked with the Turkish international.

The Mannheim born youngster was snapped up by Karlsruher aged just 15 and rose through the youth ranks before being promoted to the senior side towards the end of the 2011-12 team.

Calhanoglu made ​​a series of impressive performances but was unable to prevent KSC dropping into the 3rd Liga.

Despite Karlsruher's relegation HSV Hamburg saw enough potential in the young midfielder to warrant a € 2.5 million transfer last summer.

Calhanoglu remained at KSC for another season as HSV ended up loaning him back to his former club.

The Turkish international shone at KSC, scoring 17 times and providing 12 assists in 36 appearances - the best performing U20 player in the league. Çalhanoğlu helped guide Kalsruher to win the league title and earn promotion back into the Bundesliga II.

No comments: