Dortmund to return for Merino at end of season
Borussia Dortmund have vowed to return for Mikel Merino come June after missing out on the Osasuna midfielder in this transfer window.
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Borussia Dortmund chief executive officer Hans-Joachim Watzke says the Bundesliga side will make another attempt to sign Osasuna youngster Mikel Merino at the end of the season after failing to secure his services in this transfer window.
Dortmund were keen to bring the 19-year-old to Germany in order to add some depth to their midfield for the second half of the 2015-16 campaign.
However, the transfer collapsed as Osasuna refused to let go of the Spain Under-19 international halfway through the season unless a substantial offer came in.
Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc stressed his club had no intention of breaking the bank for the holding midfielder.
"We will not pay over the odds and match the player's release clause in order to get him," he said.
Watzke has revealed Dortmund are not giving up hopes of getting their man altogether, though, and is keen to re-open talks come June.
"We will give it another try with Merino at the end of the season," Watzke told Sky 90.
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Merino has a contract with Osasuna until June 2018.
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