West Ham United and Southampton have been dealt a blow in their aims of signing Hamburg winger Nicolai Muller after the German club declared that they are not planning to sell the player this summer.
Muller has just a year remaining on his contract and it looks like Hamburg are prepared to try and keep him.
Chairman of the Bundesliga Club, Heribert Bruchhagen said to the BILD, “We will not sell Nicolai Muller. We can not afford to be weakened.”
Muller was his side’s joint top scorer last season with five goals in the Bundesliga. He also managed to create an impressive 28 chances for his team-mates.
Both West Ham and Southampton are looking to strengthen their squads this summer. The Hammers have so far recruited veteran defender Pablo Zabaleta and have been linked with a number of forwards, while Southampton have managed to sign defender Jan Bednarek from Lech Poznan.
