Bayern’s sports director Hasan Salihamidzic was really angry. “It’s amateurish, that’s exactly what Bayern Munich isn’t about, circling around somewhere when you have a day off,” complained the 46-year-old, referring to Serge Gnabry’s trip to Fashion Week Paris.
After the 1-1 draw against Leipzig and before the next 1-1 draw, the national player jetted to the metropolis on the Seine to visit one of the most important fashion events in the world.
“I don’t think any contract says what you have to do or not to do on a day off. If that were the case, it would be a violation that should be punished,” said Toni Kroos, siding with Gnabry .
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Salihamidzic, on the other hand, had emphasized that “a day off is there to rest so that you can step on the gas in the next game”.
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Kroos was even more surprised at the way the club dealt with it than the displeasure of the sports director.
He was “a bit surprised that the topic was made more public by the club than by the media,” said the Real Madrid midfield star, who himself was under contract with Bayern professionals from 2007 to 2014.
“You already had the goalkeeper coach topic and at the time it was only a draw before the Cologne game,” says Kroos. “You could have moderated that more relaxed and said: ‘Watch out, he didn’t do anything wrong, we’ll clarify everything else internally.’ And if you want to make an announcement to him, then internally.”
Kroos: “It’s almost nobody’s business”
Nevertheless, he can understand that the club finds the trip “not so cool”. “You can approach a game two days before a game with tact and say, ‘I’ll do it or I won’t.’ But that’s up to the player to weigh up and how to deal with any reactions.”
Ultimately, he was always “that everyone can do what they want on their day off. It’s almost nobody’s business what they do”.
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