Transfer news: Arsenal and Manchester United on red alert after Borussia Dortmund confirm release clause for Marco Reus

The Germany international is reported to be available for around £29.4m although the activation date of the clause remains an area of uncertainty

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus has a release clause in his contract believed to be £29.4m (GETTY IMAGES)

Arsenal and Manchester United have been put on red alert after it was confirmed that transfer target Marco Reus does have a release clause in his Borussia Dortmund contract.

The 24-year-old is the latest in a long line of Dortmund players that has become one of the biggest draws in Europe, following the departures of Shinji Kagawa and Mario Gotze as well as the expected move of Robert Lewandowski to rivals Bayern Munich.

Both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain are also believed to be monitoring the situation, with the reported fee of £29.4m easily affordable for all the teams in the hunt for the Germany international. Rumours had begun to circulate that such an agreement existed in his contract when Gotze was snapped up for €37m (approx. £31m) by Dortmund’s Bundesliga rivals Bayern.

The confirmation came from Dortmund’s executive Hans-Joachim Watzke when he spoke to SPORT1media, although he stressed that there aren’t any other such clauses in the first-team squad.

"He could leave our club due to that,” Watzke confirmed.

"He is, however, the only player in our first-team squad that has such a contract clause."

Reus is contracted to the Champions League runners-up until 2017, although the club are keen to extend that deal with a significant pay rise in return of scrapping the release clause. There has since been further reports from German football specialist Raphael Honigstein, who wrote on his Twitter account that club’s cannot activate the clause for over a year-and-a-half.

“Worth re-iterating today that Reus' release clause only kicks in summer 2015,” wrote Honigstein, who also said that the clause was common knowledge in Germany but hadn’t been mentioned due to the 2015 activation.

Arsenal got to see Reus up-close following their two recent matches against Dortmund in the Champions League, with the Gunners losing at the Emirates before claiming a surprise victory at the Westfalenstadion last week.

United are also keen to bolster their midfield options, with doubts lingering among fans over £27m summer signing Marouane Fellaini’s suitability to the side after he has struggled to settle in at Old Trafford early on.