Union Berlin officially bid farewell to five loan players on Monday. Not surprisingly, apparently.
From Berlin back to Liverpool: Loris Karius.
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In the summer, 1. FC Union Berlin had cautiously struck the transfer market after relegation in the Bundesliga, operating a lot with loan players in particular. Nico Schlotterbeck (Freiburg), Loris Karius, Taiwo Awoniyi (both Liverpool) and Joel Pohjanpalo (Leverkusen) came for little money – but only for one season.
Although managing director of professional football Oliver Ruhnert at Pohjanpalo, for whom the Union had a purchase option, recently remarked that he wanted to “look at the issues behind it” and talk to “the responsible people”, he says today in the club’s announcement: “We decided to borrow players during the transition periods. We knew that we would have to say goodbye to them in the summer. ”
The farewell with announcement also affects Schlotterbeck, who is returning to Breisgau after 16 Bundesliga appearances, Petar Musa, who was loaned from Slavia Prague in winter, and Karius and Awoniyi, who are moving back to the island, at least for the time being. While the goalkeeper only made five competitive games for the Iron, striker Awoniyi in particular was able to convince. The Nigerian scored five goals in the first half of the season, but was slowed down by a muscle injury in February and didn’t come back until the final sprint.
“All the players who left our team this summer played their part in our successful season,” said Ruhnert.
