Jerome Boateng has dealt Arsenal a blow in their bid to land him this summer after revealing that he is enjoying his football again and he expects to remain at Bayern Munich, reports the Daily Mail.
The defender will enter the last year of his current deal at the German side and he was out of favour at the start of the season.
Bayern’s former manager, Niko Kovač, didn’t think that the German was good enough to start for his team.
However, since Hansi Flick replaced the Croatian, he has been given more chances, and he is no longer considering a move away from Bayern.
This may come as a blow to Mikel Arteta, who, according to the Mail, had the German as one of his targets to add to his defence.
Boateng said: ‘Before Hansi Flick, I was already thinking about my future,’ Boateng admitted to Welt am Sonntag.
‘At the moment I feel good and can imagine that I will stay. My focus is totally on Bayern and the current season.
‘I need the trust of the coach and his coaching team. I have it again. Even before the time with Hansi Flick, I trained well and hard, but I was not allowed to play and never had the chance to get into my rhythm. It is difficult for every player.
‘Hansi Flick told me right from the start that he was planning with me and appreciated my qualities. Now I’m really enjoying football again.’
Boateng isn’t young anymore, but he has recently rediscovered his form and his experience would be very valuable to Arsenal if he was to join.