Bayer Leverkusen are pursuing a loan deal for Real Madrid youngster Reinier as they brace themselves for Kai Havertz's imminent exit.
Havertz, who led Leverkusen in goals and finished second on the club's assist charts this year, is expected to seal a blockbuster move to Chelsea which could be worth close to the €80m mark, so finding a suitable replacement is understandably high on Leverkusen's agenda.
Instead of spending some of that money, Goal state that Leverkusen are instead keen to bring Reinier in on loan next season and there is a confidence that the deal will be done as Real are eager to give the Brazilian some senior experience in the Bundesliga.
Real know that Reinier will not pick up enough first-team experience if he remains at the Santiago Bernabéu. La Liga rules state that teams can only register three non-EU players, but Real already have Éder Militão, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, so there is no spot open for Reinier.
The relationship between the two clubs is positive, stemming from Dani Carvajal's impressive one-year spell in Leverkusen in the 2012/13 season, so Real are well aware of what the German side can offer young talents.
However, Leverkusen are not alone in their pursuit of Reinier as fellow Spanish side Real Valladolid are also keen. Club president Ronaldo has his own outstanding relationship with Real and he has used that to land several loan deals in recent years, including for Javi Sánchez, Jorde de Frutos and Andriy Lunin, although most of those moves ended up being disappointing for everyone involved.
If Leverkusen can pull off a loan move for Reinier, they will likely give the green light to Havertz's move to Chelsea, which is expected to be completed after the Europa League comes to a close.
“Kai is with us for the start of training and I expect him to be available for the Europa League,” manager Peter Bosz told Leverkusen's official website.
“The players are the same for the Europa League as with the Bundesliga and the DFB Cup. We can’t use loan players or summer signings. [And] it doesn’t make any sense to me to deal with [transfers] before the Europa League. We want to be in this tournament to the end. Then we’ll work hard on planning.”
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Source : 90min