Report: Why Rapid Failed to Sign a Holding Midfielder

SK Rapid and the missing holding midfielder. A non-transfer as the "highlight" of Austrian Deadline Day has probably not happened before. But that's exactly what happened this summer.

But how did it come to this? The first domino to fall was the delayed departure of Romeo Amane, as reported by the "Kurier". According to the report, an earlier sale was expected, which would also have brought in a bit more money.

Rapid Was Targeting These Candidates

After the Ivorian was sold to RSC Anderlecht for up to 6.5 million Euros - five million Euros as a fixed transfer fee - a loan (ideally with a purchase option) for a physically robust holding midfielder was on the agenda.

According to the "Kurier" report, there were still three candidates to replace Amane shortly before Deadline Day. Two of them are also named: Hakim Sahabo (21/AEK Athens) and Jonathan Varane (25/Queens Park Rangers).

Lack of Match Practice

The catch with Sahabo: Since he moved from Liège to Athens in February 2025 for 1.5 million Euros, he had only been on the pitch for five minutes.

The 13-time Rwanda international would therefore not have been an immediate reinforcement.

Deal with Varane's Half-Brother Collapses

Varane, who is the half-brother of former professional Raphael Varane, was also considered a preferred candidate by head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup for this reason.

The Rapid coach knows the Martinique international from his time in England with Norwich City. However, at QPR, Varane is only a substitute. He was also reportedly ready for the move.

However, the transfer fell through - the reason is unknown. In this regard, Sporting Director Markus Katzer and the Rapid board contradict each other.

The latter (the board) clarified that they had not rejected any new signing - not even due to financial reasons. In contrast, Katzer frequently spoke about the tight financial margins in Hütteldorf over the past few days.