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ESPN staff 8y

Bremen expect to sign Arsenal's Serge Gnabry, deny Bayern involvement

Werder Bremen have said they have reached an agreement with Arsenal for winger Serge Gnabry and that Bayern Munich will not be involved in the deal.

Sky Sport in Germany had reported on Tuesday morning that Gnabry, who impressed for Germany at the Olympic Games, was set to return to his homeland with Bayern and make a temporary switch to Bremen.

Asked to confirm the report, the player's father, Jean-Hermann Gnabry, later told Stuttgarter Zeitung: "Yes, it's like that."

Speaking to radio station SWR, he added: "I would have preferred if had Serge come out on top at Arsenal. He's still under contract until 2017, but has already left in his thoughts. Bayern are just like Arsenal.

"He'll have tough competition there as well. He should have been more patient here in London."

German publication kicker also reported that Bayern were set to pay more than €8 million (£6.8m) to sign Gnabry.

However, Bremen director of football Frank Baumann said on Tuesday afternoon: "Serge Gnabry would like to play for us. Talks with Arsenal are going well.

"Bayern have no influence on a potential transfer."

He added: "We've agreed terms with the player and we're confident that the transfer will go ahead.

"[Arsenal captain Per] Mertesacker told us a lot about Serge Gnabry. He is a big fan of the player.

"We have reached an agreement with Arsenal but nothing has been finalised as of yet. The transfer could be confirmed tomorrow morning."

Gnabry's Arsenal contract is due to expire at the end of the season and Arsene Wenger had said he wanted to prolong the deal.

The 21-year-old, who joined Arsenal from Stuttgart five years ago, is highly rated but has struggled to make an impact at club level so far.

Gnabry made nine league appearances as an 18-year-old in the 2013-14 season, when the Gunners struggled with injuries, but then missed the following campaign with his own fitness problems.

He was sent on loan to West Bromwich Albion last season, but was only given one league appearance by Tony Pulis before returning to Arsenal in January, spending the rest of the campaign playing for their under-21s.

Several German clubs, including Hertha Berlin and Schalke, had expressed an interest in signing Gnabry on loan this season.

Schalke sporting executive Christian Heidel said last week: "All Bundesliga clubs except Bayern are looking at him."

ESPN FC's Germany correspondent, Stephan Uersfeld, contributed to this report.

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