Would Werder Bremen still be a Bundesliga team if Milot Rashica had been fit throughout 2020/21?
It would be a tad too simplistic to suggest all the club’s problems – their dreadful defensive record and a ruinous penchant for self-destruction – could have been solved by the availability of a Kosovo international winger.
But if Rashica had managed more than just 14 league starts, it’s hard to imagine Werder Bremen wouldn’t have averaged far more than their dismal record of 0.9 goals per game.
An explosive little winger in the Franck Ribery, Eden Hazard or Alexis Sanchez mould, Rashica’s 11 goals and eight assists made him one of the Bundesliga’s most exciting up-and-coming talents in 2019/20.
Rashica – a long-term Aston Villa target
Aston Villa spent the whole of last summer courting the 24-year-old too, with Werder sporting director Frank Baumann making their interest public.
“There are several interested parties, and Aston Villa are one of them,” Baumann said in September 2020.
Aston Villa triggered the £20 million release clause in Rashica’s contract a few weeks later.
But, with the former Vitesse Arnhem speedster demanding £75,000 a week – a pay packet that would have made him one of the highest earners in Dean Smith’s squad – Villa walked away from the table.
Not for long, though. This old flame still haunts Villa dreams.
This week, Calciomercato reported that, following Bremen’s first relegation in 40 years, Aston Villa have come knocking again.
What’s more, Rashica is available for just £14 million these days because of a relegation clause in his contract (Kicker).
That would make the quicksilver Kosovan a darn sight cheaper than the likes of Emi Buendia, Todd Cantwell and Matheus Pereira, although a difficult, injury-hit 2020/21 season raises more questions than answers.
This time last year, Rashica would have arrived as one of the most exciting young wingers in Europe. Now, he’s an injury-prone, goal-shy forward struggling for form at a fallen giant.
How quickly the narrative changes.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
