Arsenal are interested in Nathaniel Brown and keeping close tabs on the Germany international, who seems certain to move on from Eintracht Frankfurt this summer
Bayern Munich have reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Nathaniel Brown on a five-year contract after positive talks between the Eintracht Frankfurt star and Vincent Kompany.
football.london understands Arsenal are interested in Brown and keeping close tabs on the situation. There is a belief that the 22-year-old will inevitably move to a bigger club this summer.
Brown has excelled in the Bundesliga for two seasons since signing from second-division side Nuremberg. Senior international recognition has followed, and the versatile full-back will be at this summer’s World Cup a year on from representing Germany at the European Under-21 Championship.
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Sky in Germany claim Bayern are already in contact with Eintracht. The latter’s sporting director, Markus Kroesche, is said to be demanding as much as £52million (€60m).
There is also an acknowledgement that the deal could still stall over Brown’s transfer fee. However, he reportedly wants to join the German champions immediately.
Kroesche seems set to drive a hard bargain for Brown, though. The sporting director said earlier this year: “For me, he is already one of the best full-backs in Europe.”
He agreed, when asked by BILD last year, that Brown could cost as much as the £62million deal Chelsea agreed when signing Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion. Kroesche said: “Yes because he has three exceptional qualities you can’t teach: he’s smart and tactically intelligent, has great technique, and he’s very fast.
“He’s made outstanding progress, especially when it comes to defending at a high level. Just look at how he performs against top opponents in the Champions League.”
Arsenal’s interest in the left-sided right-footed player comes from the potential to add greater versatility to their backline. Myles Lewis-Skelly moving into midfield more permanently would reduce Mikel Arteta’s options at the back.
Brown is capable of playing in both full-back positions, switching to the right twice last season. Cedric Soares and Takehiro Tomiyasu have previously shown similar versatility under Arteta.
Piero Hincapie, who will sign permanently this summer, and Riccardo Calafiori are the existing options on the left. However, they can also play a more central role.
The presence of Brown could allow either Calafiori or Hincapie to cover for Gabriel Magalhaes as the left-sided central defender. That would provide more opportunities to rest the Brazil international and allow one of them to play a less physically demanding role after their injury issues.
Brown also offers more going forward than both. He has scored seven goals and assisted another ten for Eintracht in 59 matches across all competitions.
