VfB Stuttgart need to push for a positive conclusion to negotiations with Brighton and Hove Albion for striker Deniz Undav this week, as his purchase clause is set to expire.
That’s according to BILD, who cover the player today and how he could end up costing the Germans €40m in total.
The newspaper explains that Stuttgart are set to be flush with cash this summer as three first-team players are departing, with Waldermar Anton, Hiroki Ito and Serhou Guirassy all on the way out.
That means there will be €63m going on to the balance sheet for the club, alongside guaranteed income of €20m from the Champions League and Super cup.
€15m has already been invested on new signings but it means there’s still €60m to be spent reinforcing the squad and some of that could be spent to get Undav from Brighton on a permanent basis.
He’s considered the most important topic at the club at this moment in time after his successful loan spell last season.
Stuttgart have an option to sign him for €20m but that doesn’t make things as simple as it seems because Brighton ‘have the reins’ thanks to a buy-back option on the striker.
The purchase option also expires this week and after that his fee would be ‘freely negotiable’ and presumably much more expensive than present. Brighton, of course, know all this and using it to their advantage.
The current package being discussed would mean an outlay of €40m over three years for Stuttgart if they were to sanction it, which is costly even with the money already brought in from sales and other potential departures.
They believe they have enough money to get deals done but the real breakthroughs are still missing, particularly when it comes to Undav, whose expiring clause is set to put the pressure on this week.
