Change “failed at the last second”
National player almost ended up at FC Bayern
December 21, 2024 – 7:10 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
Armel Bella-Kotchap is currently under contract with English first division team FC Southampton. A year and a half ago he almost ended up in Munich.
National player Armel Bella-Kotchap spoke about his failed move to FC Bayern in 2023. The 23-year-old was also courted by BVB at the time. The offers from the two top German clubs certainly gave him pause at the time, as he told “Bild”.
“The interest from Dortmund and Bayern obviously makes every player proud and I would be lying if I said it didn’t concern me a lot at the time,” said Bella-Kotchap. “Sebastian Kehl (BVB sports director, editor’s note) is said to have been very serious about me at the time, but Southampton rejected the move at the time.”
According to Bella-Kotchap, things have become even more concrete with FC Bayern. “I also had a conversation with Marco Neppe, the technical director of FC Bayern at the time,” said the 2022 World Cup driver. “In the end, the move to FC Bayern failed at the last second because there was no agreement with Southampton. Basically But we agreed back then.” Bella-Kotchap emphasized that he still dreams of playing for a top club. “I want to show my performance again soon so that I can be interesting again for clubs like Bayern and Dortmund.”
At the moment, it doesn’t look like the former Bochum player will be able to attract interest from top clubs in the near future. Southampton are in last place in the Premier League. Bella-Kotchap has not yet played in the league this season. He was only allowed to play for 26 minutes once in the League Cup. That was against Cardiff City at the end of August.
Bella-Kotchap could now play into the cards because coach Russell Martin was sacked in Southampton in the middle of the week. The central defender said that he had “spoken intensively with those responsible for the club over the last two days”. They assured him “that they care a lot about me and that I’ll get my chance under the new coach.”
Either way, Bella-Kotchap remains optimistic and has big plans for the future. “I like it here in England, I make no secret of that. I would like to assert myself in the Premier League,” he emphasized, but added: “But I don’t want to close any doors for myself either. My willingness to move to Hoffenheim has shown that I can imagine the Bundesliga very well. That will continue to apply to my future.” TSG Hoffenheim was interested in him last summer. After the medical check, the transfer fell through.
Meanwhile, a big goal for him is to return to the German national team. Bella-Kotchap said he wanted to “make himself interesting again” for the DFB team in the future. “I want to get to where I was before as quickly as possible. Also with regard to the 2026 World Cup.” He played his only two senior international games at the end of 2022 under former national coach Hansi Flick.