West Ham United and Newcastle have been linked with Lorient’s Claude-Maurice – but is he Bundesliga bound?
Alexis Claude-Maurice has seemingly ended any hopes Newcastle United, West Ham or Arsenal had of signing him this summer.
A French U20 international who burst onto the scene with 14 goals in Ligue 2 last season for Lorient, Claude-Maurice has barely been out of the gossip columns in the last few weeks.
Le 10 Sport claimed this week that West Ham had made a bid in excess of £9 million before Sky Sports added Newcastle into the mix.
The Metro, meanwhile, states that Arsenal had been confident of winning the race for the 21-year-old, who was expected to cost in the region of £18 million. A move to the Emirates would have seen Claude-Maurice link up with his former Lorient team-mate Matteo Guendouzi.
But, on Wednesday, the man himself broke his silence. And it wasn’t good news for any of the Premier League trio.
“I want to join Borussia Monchengladbach,” Claude-Maurice said in quotes reported by The Metro.
“They are a club that focus on young players, there is a good structure, they are playing in the Europa League. I like their project & it suits me.”
Given that the likes of Marco Reus, Mo Dahoud and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen have made their name at Gladbach in recent seasons, you can see why Claude-Maurice might favour a move to a Bundesliga side with a history of bringing young talents into the mainstream.
But that will not make Claude-Maurice’s comments any easier to swallow for Arsenal, West Ham or Newcastle.
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