Talent saw no chance at FCN
Rot-Weiss Essen reinforces the attack with Leonardo Vonic from the youth team of 1. FC Nürnberg. The Croatian U20 national player signed a contract with the third division club until June 30, 2026. According to Transfermarkt information, the fee is around 100,000 euros, FCN can also benefit in the future from bonuses and a resale participation.
“With Leo we get a very flexible and accurate attacker who will certainly make us more dangerous on the offensive. We have worked very hard for him for a long time and are very pleased that he has chosen us with conviction. For us, his commitment is an investment in the future. The fact that the transfer is now taking place is not least due to Leo himself, who has waived part of his salary and thus once again underlined how much he identifies with this task. Due to his age, his development is far from over, and we will certainly benefit from him in terms of fulfilling the U23 rule. And with Leo, we are increasing our chances of receiving higher payments from the DFB’s third-division youth development fund in the future,” said Marcus Steegmann, director of professional football.
Vonic’s contract with FCN was valid until 2024, but there was no longer any prospect of an extension after the attacker, despite scoring 22 goals in the previous season for the Nuremberg reserve, did not find a place in the pros’ preparation. “We have a performance principle. In our planning, Leo is not yet ready to see him in the pros. He’s scored a lot of goals, but I think Cristian is the best judge of him. There are others who are further along than he is at the moment,” sporting director Dieter Hecking made the joint decision with coach Cristian Fiél “Bild” newspaper justified.
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