Bayern Munich has announced that they have signed Lucas Hernandez from Athletico Madrid in a £68 million deal.
The France international will join in the summer and is the first capture of what is expected to be busy transfer window at the Allianz Arena.
After a difficult season in the Bundesliga and a poor Champions League campaign which saw them convincingly knocked out by Liverpool in the round of 32, a major rebuild is believed to be on the cards at Germany’s biggest club.
Several new faces are expected to come through the door while a number of potential high profile exits are also thought to be in the pipeline.
Although the capture of the versatile Hernandez is believed to be as a replacement for centre-back Jerome Boateng, the long term future of David Alaba has been questioned by some after comments he made about possibly trying something new.
“I can imagine trying something else,” he said. “Every year there are new challenges and new objectives, and the pressure will always be there.
“I’m happy in Munich, but of course I can imagine seeing something else [in the future].”
This is when it gets interesting for Arsenal fans who will be aware that the club is in the market for a top quality left-back this summer as Unai Emery continues his rebuild at the Emirates.
Kieran Tierney at Celtic is a target, while Nicolas Tagliafico at Ajax has also been linked. But could Hernandez’s arrival at Bayern potentially open the door for Alaba’s exit?
If it does, then the player has admitted that the north London club holds a special place in his heart.
When asked where he would go, should he leave Germany, Alaba said: “Spain, England. In Spain it would be the two big clubs, I guess? Real [Madrid] or Barcelona.
“Also the big clubs in England. I was [an Arsenal fan] as a child. When you’ve been an Arsenal fan as a kid you will be one your whole life.”