Deniz Undav, who is presently on loan at Stuttgart, has stated his wish to move permanently from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Throughout his brief stint with Stuttgart this season, the 27-year-old has performed admirably, tallying 14 goals and dishing out seven assists in 22 Bundesliga games.
Undav’s outstanding attacking efforts have propelled Stuttgart to third place in the Bundesliga standings, putting the team on track to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in fifteen years—just a year after they nearly avoided relegation the previous year.
The Varel, Germany, native’s play was recognized with his maiden international call-up to the senior team earlier this month. In Saturday’s 2-0 friendly victory against France, he received his first cap under Julian Nagelsmann.
Undav, a striker who wants to continue at Stuttgart past this season, has set his sights on securing his spot in the Germany squad for Euro 2024 on home soil. His family is from Turkey.
Undav has disclosed that negotiations over a long-term move from parent club Brighton are still in the early stages.
Regarding the possibility of permanently joining Stuttgart, Undav stated to Sky Deutschland reporter Florian Plettenberg, “I would be happy the faster that works”.
“But it is a slow process because there are still other parties that need to be spoken with.”
“It was already long clear to me that I really wanted to play for Germany, because I grew up here,” Undav continued while speaking about representing his country. I don’t really have any ties to Turkey, and I’m very happy here. I am a little child with a dream.
“I was delighted when the coach of the German national team called because I had been waiting for him to do so.”
“I haven’t made any war declarations. I work hard to support the group, be upbeat, and foster a great environment. And I’ll give it my all if I play. You just need 23 players who understand and embrace their roles in a EURO, not just 11.
Plettenberg claims that should Stuttgart exercise Undav’s release clause, they will have the opportunity to purchase him permanently for a sum between €13 million (£11.2 million) and €15 million (£12.9 million).
Undav, who cost approximately €7 million when he joined Brighton from sister team Union SG in January 2022, has a deal with the Seagulls that runs until the summer of 2026, but it appears that the striker’s future is not with the Premier League team.
Despite being a part of Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton team for the 2022–2023 season, the German only made 30 appearances across all competitions, starting nine of them and scoring eight goals.
In Brighton’s attacking unit this season, De Zerbi collaborates alongside Joao Pedro, Danny Welbeck, and Evan Ferguson. The former is the team’s top scorer with 19 goals, while the latter two have contributed five and six goals, respectively.
