Germany international Marcell Jansen has caught Real Madrid's eye.
Newly-capped Germany international Marcell Jansen has admitted Spanish giants Real Madrid held initial talks with his agent about a possible switch to the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this year.The 19-year-old Borussia Monchengladbach left back was one of the stars of this summer's Under-20 World Cup, and it was after the tournament in the Netherlands that Real approached him.
Real are looking for a long-term successor to veteran Roberto Carlos, and asked about Jansen, only to learn that he currently prefers to stay in Germany.
"[Getting an offer from Madrid] is a great honour and you dream about starring for such a club and play in a team with the best players in the world, but it's all about the right timing. At the moment a transfer would simply be too early," Jansen told Kicker.
The youngster, who had also been recently linked with Arsenal, is convinced that Borussia Monchengladbach offer him the best chance to play first-team football on a regular basis as he is determined to break into Germany's World Cup squad.
After being thrown in as a second-half substitute in the 2-0 defeat at Slovakia on his debut, Jansen lasted the full 90 minutes in the 4-2 win over South Africa three days later and is now expected to be Jurgen Klinsmann's first-choice left back option should injury keep Bayern Munich star Philipp Lahm on the sidelines.
Although Jansen makes no secret out of his desire to move abroad once he has proved himself in Germany, he is currently in talks with Gladbach as the Foals are offering him a lucrative wage increase to his contract which does not expire before 2008.
"When the time is right I'll be ready to go, but I am not in any rush," he added.
"I am currently playing for one of my dream clubs already and everything is going absolutely fine. For the moment I am curious to see how the club plans to reward me for my performances."
