Gittens bombshell! Arsenal to sign Dortmund winger if...

Tom Weber

• Updated: 18 Jan 2025 12:57 GMT
• 6 min read

Jamie Gittens will leave Borussia Dortmund if they fail to qualify for the Champions League this season, according to German media.

It has been a dire campaign for the Black and Yellow thus far. Former player Nuri Sahin took the reins in the summer and there was plenty of hype surrounding Dortmund when the season kicked off.

The team had reached the Champions League final just months earlier and Sahin had a sparkling reputation as an elite up-and-coming tactician after a job well done at Antalyaspor and then as an assistant under Edin Terzic in the second half of 2023/24.

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However, it has been nothing short of a disaster so far. Dortmund languish in tenth in the Bundesliga standings and, although they are only five points off RB Leipzig in fourth, they are a whopping 11 behind Eintracht Frankfurt in third.

Sahin was already under massive pressure heading into the winter break and the scrutiny has only increased since the Bundesliga returned, with Dortmund losing all of their three matches so far. Unsurprisingly, this form could not only have consequences for the head coach but also for the players.

Gittens to jump ship

According to Sky Germany, there will be a major reckoning at Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Several underperforming big earners are facing the axe, while some of the club's most valuable assets could jump ship.

Among the latter is Jamie Gittens, who has been one of the few positives of this horrid campaign. Though still inconsistent, Gittens has more regularly shown his talents this term than in previous seasons.

With 11 goals across all competitions, Gittens is only behind star striker Serhou Guirassy in the internal scoring charts and this has attracted the attention of other clubs.

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The likes of Arsenal and Chelsea have been keeping tabs on the 20-year-old for some time due to his status as a highly-rated homegrown but talk of a January move was emphatically put to bed by Dortmund when they slapped a €100 million price tag on his head.

However, the club's poor form this season will massively influence Gittens' future. Indeed, if Dortmund fail to qualify for the Champions League, it is almost guaranteed that the England youth international will leave the club.

If this scenario transpires, the fee Dortmund can expect to receive will be significantly lower than their inflated €100m January price, which means that Arsenal - or any suitors - will be queuing up in the summer.