NEWS
Parensen: Sturm Negotiating with Striker and Defender
Sturm's Sporting Director is fulfilling his coach's wishes and is in negotiations with a striker and a left-back.
SK Sturm's squad for the new season is taking shape.
The vice-champions have so far introduced four new signings - but transfer planning is not yet complete. The Graz team is still reportedly looking for a left-back to replace Emir Karic, and coach Fabio Ingolitsch also wants a striker with a different profile.
"There are concrete negotiations," says Michael Parensen in an interview with "Krone". However, this undertaking is not simple.
The transfer period is "always a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions. Sometimes you feel like everything is going in the right direction with a transfer. Then something else happens. For example, a player gets injured at one club. Then the other player isn't released. Therefore, it's difficult to assess," adds the Sporting Director.
Loan Deals as a "Relatively Likely Option"
Also because Sturm's budgetary belt is tighter this year. The 40-year-old does not rule out further new signings arriving on loan: "It doesn't have to be, but it's a relatively likely option."
After all, money has already been spent on the previous transfers of Jürgen Heil, Simon Seidl, Petar Petrovic, and goalkeeper Ammar Helac. "In addition, we exercised the purchase option for Jeyland Mitchell," says Parensen.
When asked whether the latter could be monetized after a successful entry into the European group stage, the Sporting Director does not elaborate: "Sounds like an interesting plan."
However, he does comment on the rumors surrounding Jon Gorenc Stankovic and Ryan Fosso, who are said to be highly sought after: "We have nothing concrete on the table for either Jon or Ryan."
Offers for Departure Candidates Not Yet Convincing
Regarding the departure candidates Emanuel Aiwu, Niklas Geyrhofer, and Amady Camara, all of whom are on the sidelines at Graz, there is still no transfer completion to report: "More offers are coming in, but it's not yet what we want."
Generally, however, several players seem to have attracted interest from other clubs: "Sturm continues to attract extreme interest. There is always interest in all kinds of players. Not just those we want to offload," explains Parensen.
Maurice Malone could also be on the move: Maccabi Haifa is reportedly interested in the 25-year-old German, who only moved to Graz from Wiener Austria last season (all info >>>).
