I don't know if Sergiño Dest likes Berlin, but the idea of living there during the 2023-24 season is starting to take shape for the U.S. international.
According to several reports in Germany and Spain, the player who is on loan at AC Milan from FC Barcelona has reportedly agreed to a new loan deal with Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.
Sergiño Dest to Union Berlin - What do we know?
The name of Dest has been orbiting around Union Berlin for the last couple of weeks, with the tabloid Bild hinting the club was exploring the chance to add him to their squad for the next campaign, which could include Champions League action.
But during the last hours, the rumor gained even more traction after the website Mi Bundesliga said the agreement between FC Barcelona – where Dest has a contract until June 2025 – and the German side is nearly a done deal. They even reported that Dest is OK with the idea.
BOMBA
Sergiño Dest se irá cedido a Union Berlin ⚒️#⃣ #FCU #Bundesliga
✍️ @BlasjeDiaz https://t.co/QAeITFuqgr— Mi Bundesliga (@mibundesliga) April 26, 2023
What's not clear is if the agreement has a buy option included or not.
There is also a chance that nothing of this is true.
Dest arrived in Barcelona in 2020 after the Catalans paid Ajax a fee close to $24 million for his services. However, the fullback has failed to impress the Spanish giants under two coaches: Ronald de Boer and Xavi.
At the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Dest managed to get a loan spell on AC Milan, hoping to get back on track and maybe make the move permanent. Sadly, things didn't improve with the Rossoneri: the USMNT ace's performance had been extremely poor, accumulating just 635 minutes across all competitions so far and not even playing a game since Jan. 24, after a catastrophic 4-0 loss against Lazio.
As you can imagine, AC Milan is passing the chance to buy Dest and they are sending him back to Barcelona. And since Barça doesn't seem to want him either, the opportunity to loan him again – this time to Union Berlin – looks like it was made in Heaven.
With five games remaining, Union Berlin currently sit third in the 2022-23 Bundesliga with 55 points. If they manage to finish in the Top 4, we will see them in the next Champions League.