In what was a rather shocking move even for the opinionated and headstrong Ronald Koeman, the Netherlands manager recently stated via a press conference that “the book is basically closed” for winger Steven Bergwijn’s Netherlands career. The reason for this exclusion is the player’s recent move from Ajax Amsterdam to the Saudi Pro League, or rather the motivation behind it, as Koeman accused the former Tottenham player for choosing financial ambition over sporting ambition.
Ahead of Germany’s match against Netherlands in the Nations League, reporters took the chance to ask Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann ahead of the game what he thought about Koeman’s decision. @iMiaSanMia captured Nagelsmann’s response: “Generally speaking, I can understand when a coach wants to prioritize the sporting side because the league in Saudi Arabia is not at the same level as here in Europe. But I wouldn’t rule it out completely. If you judge it purely from a sporting perspective, you have to give every league in the world a chance. But at the moment it’s not a top league. I wouldn’t completely rule out [calling up a player from the Saudi league], but I can also understand my colleague.”
That is about as middle ground of a position as Nagelsmann could have managed and it was likely the wise move. This is not his affair and making some kind of controversial statement on the topic would have opened up a can of worms the former TSG Hoffenheim boss simply does not need.
But it does make one wonder. None of Germany’s current key players are currently plying their trade in Saudi Arabia or another league Nagelsmann might identify as not good enough. But what if they do? What if, God forbid, Joshua Kimmich ends up leaving Bayern Munich for Saudi Arabia in 2025? What will Nagelsmann’s decision be then…
