Adam Hlozek’s agent is glad the £11 million forward did not join Premier League giants Manchester City before putting pen to paper with Bayer Leverkusen, speaking to iSport.
Last season, Viteszlav Jaros played 15 games on loan at non-league outfit Notts County from Liverpool. The Manchester United-owned Matej Kovar, meanwhile, spent time at Burton Albion following a similar spell at Swindon Town.
At 20 and 22 respectively, both Jaros and Kovar are a year or two older than a fresh-faced forward who swapped Sparta Prague for Bayer Leverkusen earlier on in the summer transfer window.
And, as influential Czech agent Pavel Paska points out, Hlozek benefitted immensely from staying put, establishing himself as a key part of the national team set-up while playing regular first-team football, paving the way for a big-money move to one of the biggest clubs in the Bundesliga.
It’s tempting to wonder how differently things would have worked out for 19-year-old Hlozek if he’d opted to join a highly-talented crop of youngsters in Manchester City’s space-age academy earlier on in his development.
Manchester City wanted Bayer Leverkusen’s Adam Hlozek
“There were two very strong candidates; Manchester City and Ajax,” Paska recalls. “That was when Adam was only 15. We said together with Sparta that the club would keep the player, create the right conditions for him.
“I knew that the journey abroad led nowhere. Our two best young goalkeepers are at Liverpool and Manchester United (Jaros and Kovar) and play in the lower leagues.
“Adam, meanwhile, is in the national team, will play the Champions League. This is the right way.”
Hlozek scored 12 goals and set up a further 15 during an exceptional 2021/22 campaign. A move to Leverkusen will see the one-time West Ham target follow in the footsteps of Moussa Diaby, Kai Havertz, Dimitar Berbatov and co.
“The parents were under a lot of pressure. The clubs were waving a lot of resources in front of their eyes. Manchester City offered accommodation that looked like a five-star hotel,” Paska adds when discussing City’s interest in his highly-rated client.
“I didn’t like it at all. It was very comfortable. The player suddenly has everything, then he can’t make it because he’s oversaturated. He could lose motivation.”
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