(Football news) Brentford are all set to sign Freiburg no 1 Mark Flekken as David Raya replacement. Brentford have given up hopes of keeping Spain international David Raya at the Gtech Community Stadium as the Bees have already lined up his replacement. According to Florian Plettenberg, Brentford are set to sign Mark Flekken as Raya is poised to leave the club this summer if any club meets his release clause of €40 million.
Flekken has agreed all the personal terms and will reportedly join Thomas Frank’s team at the end of the season. The 29-year-old Dutch goalkeeper reportedly has a €13 million release clause in his contract which Brentford is going to trigger. The Dutch international player will sign a five-year contract with the high flying Premier League side. Flekken had subsequently joined Freiburg in the summer of 2018 but he recently established himself as the club’s number one keeper.
The Dutch international played a crucial role in Christian Streich’s Europa League qualification last year as he kept 12 clean sheets in 32 Bundesliga appearances. Freiburg’s hopes of earning a place in the Champions League would have convinced Flekken to remain at the Black forest club but their bid to qualify in the top-four crumbled. Freiburg have lost consecutive league games to fellow top four rivals in Union Berlin and RB Leipzig, Streich’s team are three points off the Champions League places in the Bundesliga with two games remaining.
Sporting director Jochen Saier had confirmed that Flekken would leave as the Dutch goalkeeper was just one step away from signing with the West Londoners. Raya on the other hand is a subject of interest from several Premier League clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur.The Spanish show stopper has already rejected two contract proposals from Brentford. The 27-year-old has been one of the standout performers in the Premier League this season as he has kept 11 clean sheets in 35 Premier League games. Raya has gone on to make over 150 appearances for Brentford since joining from Blackburn Rovers in 2019, but his long association with the club will come to an end this summer.
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