Aston Villa and Brighton ‘worked hard’ to sign striker – Player’s personal preference saw them miss out

Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion both ‘worked hard’ to sign striker Davie Selke, but the player turned them down in favour of a return to Werder Bremen.

The German forward completed a move to Werder Bremen today after deciding to leave Hertha Berlin following the arrival of Krzysztof Piątek.

He had been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League, with Aston Villa and Brighton named among five clubs thought to be keen on his signature.

Indeed, earlier today we covered a report from Bild that Villa still had a chance of getting their man before tonight’s deadline.

Selke ended those hopes by deciding to make a return to Bremen, although Bild report that both Aston Villa and Brighton tried their hardest to get him.

The newspaper reports that the ‘worked hard’ on the move, and he had ‘lucrative offers’ from several clubs in England, but ultimately decided to move back to the club he left two years ago.

Bremen chief Frank Baumann has also confirmed that the striker had offers from ‘well-known’ clubs in England.

“Davie has always greatly valued the environment and fans,” Bild report him saying.

“Therefore, he was immediately ready to deal with a change. There were other well-known clubs from England in the race. It helped that Werder Bremen was his favourite.

“I hope that Davie is received very positively here. He has a style of play that is very well received by the fans.

“He always gives everything, wants to score many goals.”