Although the transfer window in Germany has long since closed, FC Bayern has announced another departure.
Nemanja Motika is moving to the Serbian top club Red Star Belgrade, as the German record champions announced one day after the end of the change period in Germany. The change is possible because the transfer window in Serbia is open until February 11th.
“Nemanja has developed well with us in recent years and scored a lot of goals in the Bavarian regional league this season. Red Star now approached us with an offer for him, which he absolutely wanted to accept for sporting reasons,” explained the campus boss Jochen Sauer: “Nemanja is moving to a club with a long tradition in European football.”
FC Bayern did not provide any information about the amount of the transfer fee for the 18-year-old. According to “Bild” football boss Christian Falk, the Belgraders are ready to shell out a whopping 2.5 million euros for Motika. A high price for the teenager, who has not yet played a single competitive game for FC Bayern’s professional team.
Meanwhile, Jochen Sauer hinted that Motika’s chapter at Bayern may not be quite over yet: They will “follow his further path very closely,” said the youth director. Appropriately, “Bild” reported that the Munich team had contractually secured a buyback option in order to have the chance of a return transfer in the future.
Motika says goodbye to FC Bayern
“I had a great four and a half years in Munich,” said the striker in the meantime: “I learned a lot as a player and I would like to thank everyone who has accompanied me on my way to the FC Bayern campus. In Belgrade I now have the chance to be first class play, but from afar I will keep my fingers crossed for the FC Bayern amateurs to get promoted again.”
In the current season, Motika has appeared primarily as a goalscorer in FC Bayern’s U23s. In the Regionalliga Bayern he scored a strong 15 times in 24 games and ranks third in the list of top scorers in the fourth-tier league.
Nemanja Motika has both German and Serbian citizenship and played for the Serbian U19 national team last year. For the FC Bayern professional team under head coach Julian Nagelsmann, he has been called up once to the match day squad, but has not played a minute.