Jerome Boateng could transfer to Hertha Berlin, but also wants Champions League football

Jerome Boateng’s contract with Bayern Munich expired at the end of this past season and it was made clear that he would be moving on elsewhere. Still, the center-back is without a club as of the 1st of July, despite the fact that various options have been touted for the better part of the last several months regarding where he might go next.

Per a new report from Sky Italia (Az), Hertha Berlin is in talks with Boateng over a potential transfer. He’s been linked with Die Alte Dame before and they’ve already brought in Jerome’s younger brother, Kevin-Prince Boateng from Serie B side AC Monza on a free transfer.

Newly appointed head of sport at Hertha, Fredi Bobic commented on the matter, not ruling out the possibility of a potential transfer; “You never know what the transfer market will bring in the end. Jérôme is also someone who has a Berlin background.” Bobic struck a slightly different tone a few weeks ago in kicker when he said he felt Boateng’s representatives didn’t seem too keen on a Hertha move.

“Jerome is still moving in a completely different sphere. It doesn’t make any sense at all yet. I know his advisors well and there are certainly different thoughts at the moment. We’ll have to wait and see what happens,” Bobic had said.

The Hertha sporting director even said he’s more than prepared to not have a Boateng decision until the very end of the transfer window, saying that it’s something he got used to last year at Eintracht Frankfurt with the transfer window getting stretched because of the coronavirus pandemic. “That was the case a year ago, and I did very well with it back then, right up to the last one. The preparation for what happens will be decisive. Suddenly there are opportunities,” he had explained in kicker (Sport.de).

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While a transfer to Hertha looks decent on paper and Boateng could be assured a starting role and consistent minutes, there are still roadblocks. He’s made it clear that he has a preference for Champions League football, which Hertha cannot offer him at this point. AS Roma had expressed interest in signing him, as Jose Mourinho had pursued Boateng in the the past when he was manager of Manchester United. He is a big fan of Boateng’s and will likely tap into the transfer market for reinforcements after Leonardo Spinazzola ruptured his Achilles tendon in Italy’s Euro 2020 quarter-finals win over Belgium.

Boateng is also keen on getting back into the German national team setup now that Hansi Flick has taken over for Joachim Low. Given Hansi’s time as Bayern manager, Boateng knows that he has a better chance of getting back involved with Die Mannschaft, but playing Champions League football would only increase those odds. For that, he would have to look elsewhere, away from Hertha.

Photo by M. Donato/FC Bayern via Getty Images