More expensive than Touré?
©IMAGO
At VfB Stuttgart, the long-term striker question is coming into focus – and with it apparently also Nuremberg’s shooting star Stefanos Tzimas. The “Kicker“ reports that the Swabians are interested in the 18-year-old Greek; also against the background of the months-long absence of loan player El Bilal Touré (broken metatarsal). For the Malian, the purchase option may be too high, which is reportedly at 18 million euros. Tzimas could no longer be available for this price.
1. FC Nürnberg is said to want to do the same with Tzimas next summer as Fortuna Düsseldorf did with Christos Tzolis in the recent transfer phase. After the loan, the Rhinelanders signed the Greek from Norwich City with a purchase option and paid 3.5 million euros, an amount that hardly seemed appropriate for the second division club. But Tzolis was sold straight away; for 6 million euros to FC Brugge. A decent win.
For Tzimas, however, the FCN would have to take a significantly greater risk with this strategy, as the amount required for a firm commitment is reportedly already 18 million euros. The club’s previous record purchase was for a sixth of this amount; Virgil Misidjan more than six years ago for 3 million euros – back then as a Bundesliga player. There would probably be no alternative to selling Tzimas directly.
TM community discusses VfB rumor about Tzimas
It is questionable whether VfB would even remain on board as a possible buyer in this scenario. “If that’s even halfway true, VfB is certainly out of it,” writes TM user and VfB fan “67-er” in the rumor mill. “I think the whole thing is more than unlikely under these conditions.”
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But it is also not clear whether the FCN will choose the option at all. In previous reports, other publications had also spoken of such a Nuremberg plan, which quite a few TM users consider to be highly risky; “The boy can then be wrapped in cotton wool,” says “lockdog83”. “Tafits0n” believes: “It will certainly come down to a preliminary contract being negotiated and then a medical check being completed in one day, then being knocked out, and then the transfer will officially take place. Anything else would be madness.”
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Whether Nuremberg takes this risk or not will hardly play a role for VfB, because there is also said to be great interest in the PAOK loan from the financially strong Premier League. Either way, Tzimas is likely to bring the club from Thessaloniki a good windfall and will in any case require large financial outlays, whether from Stuttgart or another interested party.