Ilkay Gundogan’s transfer to Manchester City could also have an impact on Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Borussia Dortmund have insisted that they are not going to lose all of Gundogan, Mats Hummels and Henrikh Mkhitaryan this summer, with chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke describing it as ‘completely out of the question’.
They will especially need to keep hold of their best players if they have any chance of winning the Bundesliga next term, with odds of 13/2 suggesting they will.
With the midfielder heading to Man City and Hummels joining Bayern Munich, the Schwarz-Gelb are going to be unlikely to let their Armenian playmaker leave, despite interest from the two London clubs.
Therefore, they will both need to return to the drawing board and start looking for someone else to bring in.
Here are three players that fit the bill:
Karim Bellarabi
Mkhitaryan got more assists than anyone else in the Bundesliga this term, providing 15, with the Bayer Leverkusen man his closest competitor on 11.
Bellarabi nearly made Germany’s squad for Euro 2016, but losing out to the likes of Mario Gotze and Mesut Ozil can’t be seen as too much of a insult to his ability.
He is able to play on either wing or behind the striker, so would add some versatility to either outfit if they were interested.
Marco Asensio
Real Madrid have a history of letting young talented midfielders leave without much fuss, such as Sergio Canales and Jose Callejon, so bringing in this 20-year-old may not prove too difficult.
His ten assists while on loan at Espanyol match Gareth Bale and he has already played for the Spanish senior side, highlighting how highly thought of Asensio is.
Dusan Tadic
The Southampton man contributed as many assists as Dimitri Payet in the Premier League this term, both setting up 12 goals.
However, Tadic did so having played two fewer games than the Frenchman, but didn’t get nearly as many plaudits.
The Serbian also found the net seven times, two less than Payet, and is at a club who have shown they are willing to negotiate.
Adam Lallana, Morgan Schneiderlin and Nathaniel Clyne are just a few examples of players to depart St Mary’s in recent seasons and it looks like the south coast club don’t have the tools to stop their star men from being tempted by a move.
