While Brentford may have put the drama around Antonio Nusa in January firmly in their past, it seems in Germany they’re not quite ready to let it go.
BILD revive the matter today as the player’s new club, RB Leipzig, question what Brentford said about the player during the January transfer window.
The newspaper explains there’s something of an ‘injury mystery’ surrounding Nusa, as Leipzig have failed to find a single thing wrong with him during medical examinations.
They explain that Nusa has enjoyed a flying start to life with the Germans since joining in a €22.5m deal this summer. If he continues at that rate, he’ll be considered a real bargain and Brentford may end up ruing their decision to cancel a move for him in January.
The Bees were close to getting a deal done in the winter window for €37m before eventually pulling out amid concerns over the youngster’s fitness.
They claimed they had discovered knee damage and talked about damaged cartilage. They wanted the price reduced drastically because of this and the deal eventually collapsed.
Nusa and Club Brugge weren’t happy with their claims, putting out their own information after having the player examined in Norway.
They insisted that the forward had an ‘acute, minor knee injury’ and that there was no permanent damage. They even published the medical report to fight back against Brentford’ claims.
That led to a messy affair in which Brentford sought more answers from the Norwegian doctors on the matter and were continually rebuffed in their efforts to get a discount.
They eventually gave up and he ended up at Leipzig this summer. Knowing about the drama, the German side ‘completely dismantled’ the player during his medical checks.
The result was that they found ‘no legacy health problems’ that could stand in the way of a transfer and ‘optimal development.’ In other words, absolutely no evidence of what Brentford were claiming.
Their stance is now being completely questioned in Germany, particularly as Nusa shines early on, although that may be more of an effort at German propaganda than anything else.
