Arsenal keeper Karl Hein set for Werder Bremen medical | OneFootball

Kicker reports that Arsenal keeper Karl Hein is on the verge of transferring to Werder Bremen. The north German Bundesliga outfit found themselves on the market for a new No. 2 keeper and were considering both Hein and German veteran Alexander Schwolow as options to back up new No. 1 Mio Backhaus. The German magazine reports that former Werder professional Per Mertesacker, who now heads Arsenal’s youth academy, was instrumental in convincing Bremen to take on the Estonian.

Hein will serve as just the third incoming transfer at Bremen this summer The Hanseatic city-state club desperately require more outfielders to augment their Bundesliga squad ahead of the new season, yet suddenly had to prioritize acquiring a new keeper after previous No. 1 Michael Zetterer was compelled to make an unexpected switch to Eintracht Frankfurt. Regarding the state of the outfielders, the news just keeps getting worse for this particular German top flight club.

Bremen have lost yet another left-back. Just days after an injury to Leeds loanee Maximilian Wöber was confirmed, Bremen head coach Horst Steffen confirmed that Belgian international Olivier Deman will be sidelined for a time with an ankle injury. Deman – who turned in a strong training camp – replaced the injured Wöber during Bremen’s opening round Pokal loss against Arminia Bielefeld.

Steffen will have no choice but to deploy a non-natural fullback in this weekend’s opening Bundesliga fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt. German fullback Felix Agu can slide over to the left, but Werder have still not managed to secure targeted right back Isaac Schmidt from Leeds. Steffen addressed the starting prospects of two central defenders at a Thursday press conference.

“Karim Coulibaly [18] is certainly a candidate,” Steffen said. “But we also have Julián Malatini [24], who can be thrown into the fray and already has experience in the Bundesliga.”

GGFN | Peter Weis