15 hours ago
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“He’s a 100-million-pound player”
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Following recent reports by Sky Germany regarding increased interest Bayer Leverkusen striker Christian Kofane, particularly from the Premier League, the young striker's agent has spoken out. Eric Depolo from the agency “AFROSPORT” confirmed to the website “daily-arsenal.com” that talks had taken place with Arsenal, but also named a number of other clubs, including Bayern Munich , as being in the running for the 19-year-old Cameroonian.
"Yes, Arsenal's interest is genuine. The manager ( Mikel Arteta ; editor's note) rates him very highly," the agent is quoted as saying. It is still too early to say whether any club is leading the race for Kofane. However, the Gunners have an advantage in that the Cameroonian international speaks Spanish, just like Arteta, thanks to his time at Albacete – Bayer signed him from there in the summer of 2025 for €5.25 million. Furthermore, star defender William Saliba (25) also has Cameroonian roots. Therefore, “Arsenal have the best chance”.
Kofane's agent names FC Bayern alongside Arsenal
Contact has already been made, both with the north London club and with FC Barcelona . Depolo also confirmed interest from “Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton, Brentford and Bayern Munich.” Arsenal are also preparing an offer for the striker, who is under contract at Leverkusen until 2029. Before things get really serious, however, the club is focusing on winning the English league title.
As for the transfer fee, the latest reports suggest Bayer are seeking between €60m and €70m for Kofane. This would place the striker third on the list of Bayer's most expensive departures . Ahead of him are only Kai Havertz , who moved to Chelsea in 2020 for €100 million including bonuses, and Florian Wirtz , for whom Liverpool paid €125 million last summer, excluding potential add-ons.
Depolo now said: "He is a €100 million player. With Kofane, Arsenal would have a top striker for the next ten years." In the summer, the Gunners signed Viktor Gyökeres (27) from Sporting for €66.9 million, but the Swede has not yet made a full impact. Behind him in the squad is Gabriel Jesus (28), who is very talented but repeatedly struggles with injuries.
“I've never received as many calls about Kofane in my life as I have now,” the agent continued. “At the moment, he is the best U21 striker in Europe and the most complete.” Kofane's market value climbed from €5 million to €40 million over the course of the season – only seven players saw a bigger increase this season . "He embodies the modern center-forward who is currently in high demand. Physical robustness, coupled with great pace, are attributes with which he consistently causes problems for his opponents," said market value expert Julius Weißenstein in the latest Bundesliga update.
