Jos Luhukay, the Sheffield Wednesday manager, worked with Leeds United’s Pierre-Michel Lasogga in Germany.
Few people in England had heard of Jos Luhukay at the time of his appointment by Sheffield Wednesday in the early New Year, but Leeds United’s Pierre-Michel Lasogga is one of them.
Their relationship began six years ago, when Luhukay arrived at Hertha BSC with a remit to secure instant promotion back to the Bundesliga. By then, Lasogga was already well established at the Berlin Olympiastadion, where he had scored 21 league goals in his previous two seasons – eight of which arrived in the top flight.
But a ruptured cruciate ligament, suffered on the final day of the 2011-12 campaign, robbed Luhukay of Lasogga’s services until the following February, and the striker had only a minimal impact as Hertha cruised to the title that season. Then, having spent the start of 2013-14 in exile, Lasogga was banished to Hamburg SV on loan – where he scored 13 goals in 20 Bundesliga matches.
And, despite having confirmed his intention to reintegrate Lasogga the following campaign, Luhukay never did get his reunion with the German, who secured a permanent move to Hamburg – at a reported cost of £7.5 million – instead. As the pair prepared to meet with their respective clubs in October 2014, their relationship was described as “complicated” by one local newspaper, BZ – which added that Lasogga was finally getting the backing he had lacked in the capital, at Hamburg. He and Luhukay reportedly, were “friends for life no longer”.
“Lasogga does not worry me!” Luhukay told BZ ahead of a 3-0 win for Hertha – who sacked the Dutchman the following February. But having registered 10 goals and four assists for Leeds, Lasogga is likely to require more attention from Wednesday’s manager when they meet for the second time, at Elland Road.
And while Lasogga’s future is up in the air this summer – with Hamburg heading towards the second division and Leeds unlikely to afford a permanent deal for a player who is said to earn £50,000 a week – a reunion at Sheffield Wednesday can be all but ruled out.
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