Milot Rashica has been given a week off by Werder Bremen in an attempt to focus his mind after a potential deadline day move to Aston Villa or Bayer Leverkusen fell through, as reported by Kicker.
You would have got long odds on the Kosovan speed-machine still being a Bremen player by the time the transfer window slammed shut.
After all, Rashica was lined with moves to what felt like half the clubs in Europe during the last six months, with Aston Villa coming closest to luring him from the Bundesliga to the Premier League.
The Birmingham Mail reported in September that Dean Smith’s side had triggered the £20.5 million release clause in the winger’s contract. But they were unwilling to offer him the £75,000-a-week contract he wanted at Villa Park.
Bayer Leverkusen were also left disappointed after failing to reach an agreement with a man often compared to a young Alexis Sanchez or Franck Ribery.
Peter Bosz’s side were looking to add some creativity to their squad after losing Kai Havertz and Kevin Volland. But a loan offer for Rashica didn’t go down well with their green-clad rivals (Kicker).
“The last few days were not easy for Milot, there was a lot of back and forth,” says Werder coach Florian Kohfeldt, admitting that the ceaseless speculation had taken its toll on his star man.
“That’s why we decided to give him the week off so that he can think about other things and then be able to fully focus on Werder again.
“Everyone knows about the qualities of Milot, he will be very important to us in the coming months.”
With 11 goals and eight assists last season, Rashica is perhaps the biggest reason why Werder Bremen are still a Bundesliga side.
Only a relegation play-off triumph over Eintracht Brauschweig secured their top-flight survival.
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