HSV manager meets with Arsenal’s Berta over transfer target

HSV manager meets with Arsenal’s Berta over transfer target Hamburger SV manager Claus Costa met with Fabio Vieira and Andrea Berta this week, but he made no attempt to reach a compromise on a transfer fee for the player. Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images Florian Plettenberg reports that Hamburger SV boss Claus Costa flew to London on Tuesday to meet with Fabio Vieira and Andrea Berta, but the manager reportedly held no negotiations with the Gunners. HSV simply reiterated how much they want to sign Vieira, and expressed their appreciation for him. According to Plettenberg, a few million euros still separate the two clubs, and only a permanent transfer will be considered. In the meantime, Vieira is attracting enquiries from elsewhere. Previous reports suggested that whilst Vieira would like to return to former loan club HSV, the club were at least €10m apart from Arsenal in their valuation of the midfielder. HSV and Arsenal initially agreed a €22m purchase option in Vieira’s contract, and the Gunners have slightly lowered their asking price since then. But HSV want to pay €10m or less, under half of what was agreed. Vieira ended the 2025/26 season with 13 goal contributions for a bottom-half Bundesliga side, despite a very disrupted start to the campaign. His impact and consistency has been clear and impressive, so a €10m deal seems well under his true value. Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images It doesn’t seem as though HSV are even trying to reach a compromise, given their failure to bring anything new to the negotiating table this week. Their intentions appear to be solely to keep stringing the player along until Arsenal decide they have no choice but to accept the lowball offer. If Arsenal can find another buyer, that would certainly be preferable to selling to a club unwilling to take their transfer talks seriously. Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images