Milot Rashica was left out of the Werder Bremen team on Sunday as he closes in on a move away from the Bundesliga outfit, coach Florian Kohfeldt told BuliNews of the reported Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers target.
The 2004 German champions pulled off an escape that Houdini himself would have been proud off last season, avoiding the drop at the eleventh hour thanks to a Rashica-inspired 6-1 thrashing of Cologne on the final day of the campaign.
But do not expect to see the Kosovo international bailing out his team-mates once again when 2020/21 kicks off.
Kicker claimed last month that Aston Villa and Wolves have made offers for Rashica, who has seen a move to AC Milan drift away after the Rossoneri decided against hiring Ralf Rangnick as their new coach.
And it is no coincidence that, as speculation rages, the former Vitesse Arnhem winger was nowhere to be seen during a pre-season friendly victory over Eintracht Braunschweig.
“We have mutually decided not to use Milot in this match due to the situation regarding a possible transfer,” Kohfeldt said.
Werder Bremen want £18 million for their star man and, speaking to Sky last week, director Frank Baumann admitted that Rashica has ‘reached an agreement’ with his next club.
As it stands, however, RB Leipzig appear to be leading the race with Wolves, Aston Villa and many other Premier League clubs facing something of an uphill battle.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
