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Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl has revealed he wants to keep Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka at the club.
The 21-year-old joined Dortmund on loan in February and made 16 appearances last season, scoring once.
Chukwuemeka was also part of Dortmund’s Club World Cup squad, with Chelsea extending his loan to cover the knockout stage.
With Dortmund losing in the quarter-finals to Real Madrid on Saturday, Chukwuemeka’s loan has now come to an end, but Kehl believes it might not be the last time he turns out in black and yellow.
“Carney’s loan ends today,” said Kehl, speaking on Saturday following Dortmund’s 3-2 defeat to Real in New Jersey.
“That was what we agreed with Chelsea. Now, let’s see. We will definitely have some more discussions in the next few days about his situation. I think it was a good move from Carney to join us.
“Now let’s see how we manage everything. It won’t be easy, but for sure we will try to keep him because he’s a very good player. This topic is something for the future, and right now I don’t know what will happen.”
Chelsea value Chukwuemeka at £40m, the same number as his release clause. That makes a permanent transfer difficult for Dortmund unless the asking price drops.
talkSPORT understands Dortmund are open to another loan, potentially with an option or obligation to buy, and that discussions on keeping Chukwuemeka beyond last season started in May.
“It’s always easier to loan a player than to buy one, especially within Carney’s [price] range. But let’s see,” said Kehl. “We are not that far advanced [in talks] at the moment, but I can tell you that we are pretty close to the player, and he loves Dortmund, so this is quite good. Everything else will be decided between Chelsea and us. That won’t be tomorrow. That won’t be on Tuesday. I think it will take some more days.”
