Hannover 96 are in danger of failing to re-sign U.S. U20 national team players Sebastian Soto and Chris Gloster, a source has told ESPN FC.
Both players have excelled during the current Under-20 World Cup being held in Poland. Gloster has looked sharp on both sides of the ball as the team's left-back, while Soto has scored four goals during the tournament, including a brace in the Americans 3-2 round-of-16 victory over pre-tournament favorites France.
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Prior to the tournament, a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN FC that Soto's representatives were engaged in talks with Hannover, who were relegated from the Bundesliga this year, with the club keen to lock up Soto given that his current contract only has another year to run.
The source added that Borussia Dortmund -- who earlier this year sold U.S. national team attacker Christian Pulisic to Chelsea for $73.1 million -- were keeping close tabs on Soto just in case talks broke down.
Earlier this week, German publication Bild reported that discussions had indeed broken down with Soto, and that Dortmund were poised to pounce.
Soto, 18, scored 17 goals in 24 appearances with Hannover's U19 team last season. He later made three appearances with Hannover's senior team.
Now it appears that Hannover might fail to re-sign Gloster as well.
Gloster is in a position similar to Soto given that his contract has a year to run, but he has drawn interest from an undisclosed Champions League club as well as a team in the Bundesliga. After spending the 2017-18 campaign with the club's U19 team, Gloster made 16 appearances with the reserve side that played in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nord.
Hannover will spend the 2019-20 campaign in the 2.Bundesliga following a season that saw them finish next-to-last in the top tier with just 21 points, seven adrift of the relegation playoff spot.