Arsenal and Chelsea continue to battle for wonderkid as €35m bid rejected

Tom Weber

Updated: 12 Jul 2024 20:46 BST
3 min read

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal, Enzo Maresca, Chelsea — © IMAGO

Arsenal and Chelsea remain interested in Desire Doue but Bayern Munich are pushing hard for his signature, according to French media.

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The Stade Rennais wonderkid had an up-and-down campaign, initially finding himself out of the team before ultimately being brought back into the fold and impressing.

Hailed as Rennes' biggest talent since Ousmane Dembele, the prolific Breton talent producer have another massive prospect on their hands after selling the likes of Jeremy Doku to Man City and Eduardo Camavinga to Real Madrid.

In recent weeks, interest in Doue has massively increased. Arsenal, Chelsea and PSG are just some of the sides that have been linked with the 19-year-old winger and L'Equipe has now confirmed that all of them remain firmly interested in the Frenchman.

However, it seems that Bayern Munich are trying to steal a march on the competition.

Bayern step up Doue chase

Earlier on Friday, Le Parisien reported that the German giants had tabled an opening offer of €35 million, which was swiftly rejected by Rennes, who believe they can get a fee in the region of the €60m Man City paid for Doku last summer.

Fabrizio Romano subsequently confirmed that Stade Rennais had indeed rebuffed a financial approach from Bayern, though there seems to be no consensus on whether it really was a formal bid.

According to Sky Germany, it was not, but concrete talks regarding a deal have taken place and will continue to take place, with Bayern keen on securing his signature and the player open to the move.

The Bavarians are evidently pushing hard for Doue. Arsenal and Chelsea appear at serious risk of missing out on a major talent.