VfB Stuttgart striker Ermedin Demirović has admitted he spent the summer with his fingers cross that the club would be able to sign Deniz Undav from Brighton and Hove Albion.
TZ cover comments from the striker to Sky Sports today in which he admits he wanted to see the Brighton saga come to a positive conclusion.
Undav was linked with a return to Stuttgart throughout the summer after a hugely successful loan spell last season.
Negotiations dragged on for months, though, as Brighton countered Stuttgart at every angle to ensure they could get a top price for the German.
A deal was eventually done after a long saga and back and forth between the two clubs that saw Stuttgart pay €26.7m plus add-ons which could push that higher in future.
Normally that would raise some eyebrows given he would naturally be competing with Undav, who had already built up plenty of credit for himself the previous season during his loan from Brighton.
Demirovic refutes that, and instead insists he spent the summer with his fingers crossed that Undav would arrive on a permanent basis.
“I have to be honest, I hoped it would work out because I had prepared myself for it beforehand,” he said.
“For me personally, it was important that Deniz stayed because I had said beforehand that it would be a really good fit with me and him up front.
“At the same time (as the negotiations) just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that it would happen.
“I knew that I could benefit a lot from it, and of course the whole team, the whole club, the city, if a player like that simply stays at the club.”
