Rene Adler is just one of many goalkeepers linked with a move to Arsenal recently; but he has been in hot water with his club this week.
Rene Adler was voted as Hamburg SV’s Player of the Year by the clubs fans this week with 86% of the vote ahead of the likes of ex-Spurs playmaker Rafael Van Der Vaart and much-desired forward Heung Min Son.
It is for this sensational form he was given the gloves for the German national team against Ecuador ahead of former Manchester United stopper Ron-Robert Zieler and Barcelona target Marc Andre ter Stegen; with FC Bayern’s Manuel Neuer absent due to the DFB Pokal final this weekend.
After the 4-2 victory he was praised by the manager Joachim Loew so there is little wonder he has been linked with a move to Arsenal over the past month.
The Gunners are widely believed to be in the market for an experienced goalkeeper. Vito Mannone looks below the par necessary to play at this level while Lukasz Fabianksi’s recent cameo in the first-team seems to be his swansong; with concerns over his fitness likely to see him released when his contract ends this summer.
Then there is the curious case of Wojciech Szczesny. His over-confidence caught up with him this season as a series of uninspiring performances saw him dropped and now Arsene Wenger is widely believed to have lost confidence in the Pole as his number one.
Many a keeper has been linked with a move to The Gunners. Victor Valdes, Simon Mignolet, Julio Cesar and indeed Adler; who because of Hamburg’s financial concerns emerged as a cost effective option.
But while all this seems rosy he has also been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons this week; as he was one third of a trio of Hamburg players who criticised the Hamburg hierarchy when talking to press in America ahead of the Ecuador tie.
It comes as long-protracted negotiations to replace outgoing sporting director Frank Arnesen with Karlsruher’s Oliver Kreuzer continue to drag into the summer.
Adler exclaimed that the lack of a sporting director was ‘not ideal’ and that it was ‘’stupid for the players whose future is open to go on vacation with their future in the dark’’.
While Adler’s words were certainly less vitriolic then that of his team-mates Marcel Janssen and Denis Aogo rest assured they were still treated severely.
While the club stopped short of fining the players Hamburg chairman Carl-Edgar Jachow was quick to let the players know how he felt about the ordeal:
“I have called Aogo and Jansen. Adler, I could not reach by phone, I sent a text message. I made clear to the players that it’s not their job to comment on these processes. You are so far away and should adjust their comments.”
Adler has previously commented that while he was honoured by links to The Gunners that he was likely to stay at the Imtech Arena.
I wonder if the contents of that text message may change his viewpoint somewhat.
image: © adifansnet
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
