With the January transfer window winding down, the rumor mill has kicked into overdrive concerning potential late moves by clubs for some of the game's biggest players.
Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels' future in Germany has long been the subject of speculation due to the Bundesliga outfit's horrible domestic form this season. Die Schwarzgelben, who only two years ago were in the 2013 Champions League final and even won the league not too long ago are now battling relegation and sit in a shockingly bad 17th place.
With just 15 points from 17 games, including only four wins, it is lookingly disturbingly unlikely that they will be in Europe next season, unless if they manage to win this year's Champions League, in which they have actually done well so far. Meanwhile, whilst Manchester United are out of continental competition this season, they will definitely be doing all they can to make sure that this time around is not something that fans will be seeing in the near future.
According to reports, Manchester United were quite keen on Gabriel Paulista, only to see the former Villarreal man move to rivals Arsenal. As such, Louis Van Gaal, who is pushing to reinforce his back-line as his squad seek to finish in the top four this season, has now turned his attention to another player that been consistently linked with a move abroad so far all season.
Hummels, who is priced at £40 million, has been a target for the Premier League giants for some time, and did not do much to quell the chatter surrounding a potential move to England when interacting with the German press, namely the newspaper Bild, recently.
When asked about when and if he would be leaving the club, the 26-year-old, who currently serves as the team's skipper replied:
"Are you searching for a headline [or something]? I will keep doing what I have been doing for the past seven years and am focused on the second half of the season and our game against Leverkusen. Everything else will [fall into place] for me, and I am not worried about anything else."
Dortmund fans, who have already lost two stars and are certain to lose Marco Reus as well, will certainly not like that their captain did not give a specific 'ja' or 'nein' to the reporter's query. Could this mean then that the 20-time English champions may be gearing up to make a late bid, as per reports coming out of the country indicate?
