Köln sporting director says Andersson nixed over 20 transfer offers
In conversation with Köln's "Geißblog" on Friday, sporting director Christian Keller explained the inability to move striker Sebastian Andersson during the transfer window.
| Sebastian Andersson. | Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0 |
A transfer to Turkey fell through near the end of last autumn's transfer deadline. So too did a potential move up north to Brøndby this year. Köln sporting director Christian Keller confirmed that the club had received many offers for Andersson near the end of this transfer window, but that the player himself had nixed them.
"No other player generated so many offers," Keller told Köln's Geißblog yesterday, "We had over 20 offers for Sebastian Andersson. Even yesterday on Deadline Day, new clubs came out of the woodwork; sometimes with really high numbers. We saw financial gain, but the player had to agree."
The reason Andersson did not agree, it appears, relates to the rather controversial case (sadly common in football) of a player already sitting on a guaranteed fat contract who did not wish to give it up. Andersson earns some €170,000 weekly from Köln. Any transfer would have necessitated a pay cut. The player apparently did not have confidence in either this or his knee.
Keller revealed to the blog that Andersson had elected to undergo another surgical procedure instead. Having not really figured into the plans of head-coach Steffen Baumgart yet this year (no appearances yet), the striker will now be unavailable to the gaffer entirely through the end of there calendar year.
Keller made sure to emphasize that the team's medical staff didn't necessarily see the need for another surgery. Andersson had been training with the team and keeping pace. Legally speaking, however, the club could not deny the striker the operation. Andersson must be given what he has collected and will continue to collect his salary.
"I was surprised to learn a few things yesterday," Keller told the blog.