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Arsenal and Man Utd face disappointment with Ilkay Gundogan set to stay at Dortmund
BORUSSIA DORTMUND are confident that they will hang onto German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan despite interest from Arsenal and Manchester United.
Arsenal were thought to be preparing a £20m bid for Gundogan, while Manchester United were also reportedly interested earlier in the summer.
Arsene Wenger had apparently identified Gundogan as the long term successor to Mikel Arteta but it now seems that both Dortmund and the player agree that the 22-year-old needs to continue his development in Germany.
Dortmund have already seen young talent Mario Goetze depart for Bayern Munich this offseason while Shinji Kagawa left for Manchester United last summer.
Speaking to Kicker Borussia Dortmund general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke said: "I believe that he is staying.
"At this stage of his career, he knows that he has to continue with Borussia Dortmund."
Ealier this month Gundogan's father also sought to play down speculation linking his son with a move to the Premier League, saying: "I am keen to ensure he remains with Borussia Dortmund.
"He is doing fine so it's a bit early to move to a club in England or Spain at this point in time."
Arsenal, in particular, will now need to continue their search for midfield reinforcements last year with Sevilla's Geoffrey Kondogbia set to join Monaco and Paul Pogba's agent saying his client would cost "more than Gareth Bale" to lure away from Juventus.