Director admits he could not reject £5m Leeds United bid as club had to sell

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Werder Bremen’s sporting director Frank Baumann has indicated that the Bundesliga outfit were powerless to prevent Ilia Gruev joining Leeds United in the Championship. 

Do not let the shock signing of Premier League and Champions League winner Naby Keita from Liverpool fool you, Werder Bremen are not a club with an endless supply of cash; flashing their bank card around like a teenage footballer ordering Grey Goose by the bottle in the VIP section of a dead-eyed nightclub. 

Keita arrived on a free transfer, after all, Werder only agreeing a deal after the former RB Leipzig star accepted a big pay cut. 

And when Leeds United and Borussia Dortmund came calling for Ilia Gruev and last season’s Bundesliga top scorer Niclas Fullkrug in the final 48 hours of the window, Werder Bremen were in no position to say no. 

“The pressure (to sell) was already there,” sporting director Frank Baumann tells Kicker. “That’s why we said from the first day of the period that we had to achieve a profit. That was a big challenge.” 

Leeds United sign Ilia Gruev from Werder Bremen

Leeds eventually snapped up Gruev for a cool £5 million. Highly-versatile and a physical presence at over 6ft; the Bulgaria international adds flexibility and depth to Daniel Farke’s previously paper-thin midfield. 

And while Werder fans will be disappointed to see a homegrown, academy graduate depart – Gruev was certainly ‘one of their own’ – the club’s balance sheet certainly looks a lot healthier now than it did a few weeks ago.

“Our squad as a whole is not worse,” Baumann insists. “We are satisfied with the make-up (of the squad). And we are absolutely convinced that, with these players, we can achieve our goal of staying in the league. 

“The current (financial) situation gives us a certain level of security. We can sleep peacefully and are in a good position.”

Gruev will have to wait until after the September international break to make his Leeds bow. He arrives alongside Glen Kamara and Jaidon Anthony.