Brighton and Hove Albion’s negotiations with St Pauli for manager Fabian Hürzeler still appear to be ongoing, with reports in Germany currently mixed.
MOPO (Hamburger Morgenpost) and Hamburger Abendblatt cover the situation today, reporting that it is still not finalised that Hürzeler will be making the move to replace Roberto de Zerbi.
MOPO, which is the more recent report – coming out on Wednesday afternoon, states there’s still no agreement in place between the two sides for the 31-year-old coach and there is a distinct threat that the whole affair could collapse if Brighton don’t make a decisive move for him.
The newspaper explains that while it is clear Hürzeler fills the coaching profile Brighton are looking for, they are yet to put their money where their mouth is.
An agreement between the two clubs appeared to be a matter of when not if, especially when reports indicated Hürzeler had agreed terms with the Seagulls.
However, according to their information, there is still no question of there being an agreement, despite reports to the contrary.
St Pauli and Brighton started negotiations in positions that were far apart when it came to the fee that the German side were asking for.
MOPO say nothing has changed significantly from that point, there is no agreement in place.
Brighton are pushing and may be using the media to their advantage on that front by leaking reports of agreements and verbal deals being in place, but the reality is that the matter is not moving. That’s the way the newspaper sees it.
MOPO suggest there may be something of a butting of heads happening behind the scenes, with Tony Bloom a renowned poker player and St. Pauli sports director Andreas Bornemann considered an ‘extremely tough and principled negotiator’.
Reports of an agreement could also be coming from Hürzeler’s camp, who are now under pressure after making it clear early on that they wanted to change.
The newspaper suggest because of that it is difficult to imagine a way back for him at the Kiezklub.
Hamburger Abendblatt, meanwhile, had a different stance from their counterparts, in an article which was published online on Tuesday and then carried in their Wednesday newspaper.
According to them, there has been a breakthrough in negotiations and Brighton agreed on Monday evening to pay St. Pauli’s demands for him.
They say a realistic fee would be around €7.5m including bonuses, although that number appears to be their estimate after hearing claims the fee will be in the late single digit millions. It’s also intriguing to note Hamburger Abendblatt say their information is coming ‘from the island’… which is how European media often refer to the UK.
They add that an agreement with Hürzeler has already been secured, with that happening over the weekend.
Hürzeler, though, will be making the move on his own, with none of his staff following him, something that may speed up proceedings now an agreement is in place.
Bild, meanwhile, also want to cool the jets a little and say that while things are progressing, there is no final agreement.
They state that ‘the deal is not yet complete, even if it can be read, particularly on social networks, that the move for promotion coach Fabian Hürzeler (31) from FC St. Pauli to the English Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion has practically already been completed.’
That almost echoes what MOPO have been saying, in that some parties are using the media, including social media, to suggest there is more progress occurring than what has happened to this point.
The Argus, Brighton’s local newspaper, published an article on Tuesday evening saying that whilst there was confidence an agreement would be reached, claims that had already happened were ‘premature’.
