Nottingham Forest wanted to sign Kamil Grosicki on loan from West Bromwich Albion in the last window.
The two clubs agreed a deal, but the transfer didn’t go through due to paperwork not being submitted before the domestic transfer deadline. The details were submitted 21 seconds after the window closed.
Earlier this week, Meczyki.pl explained the 32-year-old’s future was set to be decided by the Arbitration Commission.
On Thursday, they confirmed the Poland international will not be joining Forest and will continue at West Brom, at least until the end of this year.
Polish outlet WP SportoweFakty had an opportunity to interview Grosicki and asked about the situation.
He said: “I am surprised myself. From the very beginning, I felt there was a problem and that the transfer would most likely not work. If it were otherwise, in the future, other clubs could have relied on my case in the future.
“There are no sacred cows. If you are late for the train half a minute and it leaves, you will not get on it. I just don’t know why I waited so long to hear “no”. The reasoning came that the transfer did not come out because it was carried out too late. About 21 seconds.
“I signed my contract with Nottingham Forest five minutes before closing the window, exactly at 16.55 (English time). There was no complication on my part. I don’t know who was at fault later, who made the mistake.”
When asked why he decided to leave West Brom, who were promoted from the Championship last season, he said, “But I didn’t want to leave West Bromwich Albion.”
“After returning from October’s international break, on the last day of the transfer window, I learned from the club that we have a large squad and there may not be enough space for me. More specifically: that I will probably not be entered into the competition.
“I told the sports director that I wanted to fight for my chance in the Premier League and I didn’t consider a transfer. Hours flew by and I began to think about the future. Not playing for WBA would complicate my situation in the national team, and soon the European championship.
“Nottingham Forest had expressed first interest six weeks earlier, so me and my manager renewed the topic. I didn’t smile to leave, but on the other hand, Nottingham was fighting a lot for me, which would have to do with playing regularly for this club. They also offered an excellent contract.”
“I’d make a lot more money than at West Brom. They fought a lot for me at Nottingham, I will definitely keep my fingers crossed for them this season. It was not known where I would actually end up.”
“Mr. Evangelos Marinakis owns two clubs – Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos. They tried to ‘spin’ it so that in the absence of Nottingham’s promotion to the Premier League, I would have ended up in Greece next season.”
After it was confirmed Grosicki will not leave West Brom, he had a chat with his manager, Slaven Bilić.
“Slaven Bilić said that he believed in me and that I am just as important as others. He did not explicitly say that he would let me play, but I am convinced that it will be fine,” the player added
“We have good contact, we respect each other. Before that, I didn’t play in the Premier League mainly because of injury and transfer turmoil. But that will change and the club will still be satisfied with me.
“I’m ready to go out on the pitch this weekend. Nobody ‘fired’ me. At the club, they know that the Premier League was my dream.”
