German side St Pauli would like to keep Middlesbrough goalkeeper Dejan Stojanovic next season, but a permanent deal is unlikely for the 27-year-old.
That’s according to Hamburger Morgenpost, who cover the goalkeeping situation at the club today and how Stojanovic may fit in moving forwards.
Stojanovic is the current number one at the club after arriving from Middlesbrough on loan in January and has made 14 appearances in the 2.Bundesliga so far.
He’s impressed the club enough to want to keep him, with sports director Andreas Bornemann saying that’s the feeling is mutual with the player.
“Dejan is doing a really good job and has become an important pillar for the team,” he told MOPO.
“He feels comfortable here and would like to stay. Of course, it’s an option that Dejan will also be between the posts with us next season, but there’s a lot of conjecture involved.
“A lot depends on how Middlesbrough plan with him and imagine a possible transfer financially.”
That conjecture is what Middlesbrough plan to so with the goalkeeper moving forwards. He was only playing a reserve role behind Marcus Bettinelli this season.
Should they decide to sell, a ‘high transfer fee is likely’, say MOPO, given Boro paid a €1.1m to sign Stojanovic from St Gallen in January 2020.
They will want to recoup as much of that as possible and, as the player also has a deal until 2023, that could make things difficult for St Pauli.
It’s explained that ‘even half’ of that fee would be too expensive for them to match, and so an ‘extended loan’ seems ‘more realistic’ if Stojanovic is to stay.
Thus, the player’s future remains firmly in Middlesbrough’s hands, with them needing to decide what they want to do before St Pauli can make a firm decision.
