HERTHA BERLIN are reportedly closing in on the free transfer for Mario Gotze whilst also in talks with a trio of Premier League stars.
BILD claim that the Bundesliga side are desperate for midfielders and are discussing loans for Matteo Guendouzi, Moussa Sissoko and Marko Grujic.
The report adds that Hertha has been making Gotze wait to decide whether he is still needed depending on their other deadline day incomings.
The German World Cup Winner has been without a club since leaving Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season.
The 27-year-old returned to Signal Iduna Park from Bayern Munich in 2016 – but fitness and health problems have prevented him from making the same kind of impact the second time around.
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He was limited to just five league appearances last term with Dortmund also said to be unimpressed by his lifestyle off the pitch.
Gotze has held talks over a return to Bayern but neither Hertha nor the Bundesliga champions need to agree a deal before Germany’s 5pm deadline because he is a free agent.
That added time will give both sides the option to determine whether the playmaker is needed following other transfer activity.
The longer Gotze goes without a new club will also give Hertha a stronger negotiating position to lower the £9million salary he was earning at Dortmund.
BILD claim Arsenal outcast Guendouzi completed a medical with Bruno Labbadia’s side on Monday ahead of his loan move.
The midfielder, 21, is looking for an escape route out of the Emirates after being frozen out by manager Mikel Arteta.
He has not featured for the club since lashing out at Brighton’s Neal Maupay in June.
Guendouzi had originally turned down a switch to Hertha before performing a U-turn on his future in recent weeks.
He could be followed by Sissoko from rivals Spurs with the Berlin outfit also discussing the possibility of a season-long loan.
The 31-year-old played the full 90 minutes as Tottenham thumped Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford.
Yet Jose Mourinho’s busy transfer activity could mean the north Londoners move on Sissoko’s £80,000-a-week wages to balance the books.
And lastly, Hertha are rivaling West Ham and Southampton for Liverpool’s forgotten man Grujic.
The 24-year-old midfielder became Jurgen Klopp’s first signing when joining from Red Star Belgrade in a £5.1m deal in January 2016.
The Serbian spent last season on loan with Hertha, playing 29 Bundesliga games and providing four goals and one assist in that period.
He revealed last year that if Liverpool ever chose to sell him, he would choose to return to his former loan side.
