Challenge League king Okou chased half of Europe: Athens, Basel and Ghent called – but Teddy goes to Lucerne

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The list is long. And she is famous. And at all clubs there was a very good chance that the negotiations to sign Lausanne Ouchy star Teddy Okou could have ended well. Clubs such as AEK Athens, PAOK Saloniki, Ghent, Hajduk Split, Düsseldorf, Nuremberg and FC Basel were all interested in the 25-year-old top scorer of the Challenge League. And the Frenchman, trained in Le Havre, could have earned significantly more at Greek or Belgian top clubs than is probably the case in Lucerne.

At Ghent he could have earned three times more

One could have assumed that a player who was a major contributor to the rise of Stade Lausanne-Ouchy with 19 goals and 8 assists would move to a bigger league abroad rather than stay in Switzerland. For example, in Belgium about three times as much TV money is paid out as in Germany, and about twice as much in Greece. Salaries are correspondingly higher. In addition, the sports director of AEK Athens is a good friend of SLO chairman Vartan Sirmakes. But even that was ultimately pointless.

Even FC Basel – unlike YB – was busy haggling over Okou. But the race makes FC Luzern sensational. Were Lake Lucerne, Pilatus, Rigi and Mythen so attractive that the man from Paris found his way to Central Switzerland? FCL sports director Remo Meyer simply says: “We had Teddy on our radar for a long time and therefore reached out early. During the talks, we were able to convince him of our sporting project and show him his prospects at FC Luzern.”

Misunderstanding with Ouchy sports director Yagan

Hirac Yagan, sports director of SLO, on the other hand, is not so fond of Okou anymore: “Teddy had great offers and then chose Lucerne. Who wants to understand that.” The wing still had a one-year contract in Lausanne and that is why a transfer is almost mandatory in case of unwillingness to extend the contract, as is the case here. Because in half a year it would have been almost worthless on the transfer market for SLO, because a transfer-free beckoned at the latest in the summer.

Sure, SLO could have just said no to Lucerne’s move. “And then?” asks Yagan hypothetically. “He’s serving his time in the stands. That doesn’t make sense.” But the climber draws lessons from the case. “We’ll do it differently next time,” promises Yagan. “The president is allowing us to do it differently. We have to make it clear to a player that sitting down is a viable option if he doesn’t understand our position.”

Source : Blick