During his active career, Alexander Bade was under contract with 1. FC Köln, HSV, Borussia Dortmund, VfL Bochum, SC Paderborn and Arminia Bielefeld, after which he worked for BVB, Geißbockheim, Austria Vienna, Ferencvaros and most recently Viktoria Köln mostly as a goalkeeper coach on the coaching staff – now a surprising step follows.
According to consistent media reports, Alexander Bade is moving to Saudi Arabia, where he is said to have received a “lucrative offer” from Al-Ahly, according to the “Geissblog”. Accordingly, Bade travels to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The 52-year-old said goodbye to Instagram with an emotional statement.
Addressing the fans of Viktoria Köln, Bade wrote: “Unfortunately, our paths have separated again, but I am very grateful for the great time with you. It was great fun working with so many wonderful people. We had in the short Time a lot of ups and very few downs. Thanks also to my goalkeeper and the team for the great farewell gift, which will always remind me of the amazing game against Werder. I wish you a successful season with great games, which I will watch closely and I look forward to seeing you again. Maat et joot!”
Concentrated celebrities gathered at Al-Ahly
The post is captioned with a snap showing Bade wearing a Viktoria shirt bearing the players’ signatures – presumably the parting gift mentioned. In the DFB Cup, the Cologne team had sensationally defeated Bundesliga side Werder Bremen 3-2.
So the next stop is probably Al-Ahly in the aspiring football powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which is just throwing money around. The club is now coached by the German Matthias Jaissle, who previously separated from RB Salzburg amid discord.
In addition, the club has already spent a lot of money this summer on stars like Edouard Mendy from Chelsea FC, defender Merih Demirel, midfielder Franck Kessie or attacking stars Allan Saint-Maximin, Roberto Firmino or Riyad Mahrez. Concentrated football prominence that Baden should not have encountered in his career.