Man speaks of “acting”
Gaël Ondoua’s time at Hannover 96 seems to be coming to an ugly end. The defensive midfielder, who was signed on a free transfer in August 2021, has no future with Lower Saxony. In the public dispute, the advisor to the 27-year-old Cameroonian is said to be arriving to negotiate a contract termination.
Head coach Stefan Leitl has long been relying on other forces in the sixth position, the prospects for Ondoua have been bleak since last summer, and according to the latest statements by 96 sports director Marcus Mann in response to statements by the player, the chances of a return to the squad are at zero. Ondoua only trains individually, as reported by the “Bild” newspaper. He therefore avoids team training with the U23s under Daniel Stendel, to which he was ordered as an alternative to training with the first team. According to the paper Advisor Vadim Vasilyev (agency “VV Consulting”) comes to Hanover for negotiations, which should go to a contract termination with severance pay for Ondoua.
“I was told that in a message from the video analyst,” Ondoua was recently told by the “Picture” quoted. The message was delivered to him on Wednesday evening. Ondoua, who was met by a reporter from the newspaper in civilian clothes at the training ground, continued: “I don’t know what wrong I have done. It hurts what’s happening here. I played the World Cup and always gave my all at 96. It has to be something personal. I could cry and I don’t even know what to say and what not to say.”
community
All topics related to Hanover 96Have your say now!
The left foot, who, according to sports director Mann, was once a long time in the hands of 96, loves his employer, “you can’t imagine how much. I love the boys, they are my family. I was hoping to get another chance. And now this. Afterwards I’ll go to the gym if they let me in.” In the current season Ondoua only played 50 minutes, in 2021/22 it was 2,249 – with 30 appearances as a regular. Now the professional has been sent to the second team in the Regionalliga Nord for the second time.
96 sporting director Mann responds to Ondoua’s statements
Mann also reacted to the statements shortly thereafter via “Picture‘: ‘It doesn’t work that way. We don’t let ourselves be fooled. I cannot stand by and watch this spectacle. What he wants to achieve with this production is obvious. But if someone takes themselves personally more important than the big picture, then it doesn’t work Thursday to Sunday is sent to the U23.
In addition, according to Mann, the player and his advisor were informed early on that he had no future at 96. “He was first informed of the sporting assessment in April 2022. We repeated that again and again afterwards.”
Hanover would have liked to give him up in winter, but Ondoua decided to stay, what he recently established: “Giving up and running away is not in my nature. If I left at the first difficulty, I wouldn’t be myself anymore. 96 gave me a two-year contract. I’ve invested in this project and I intend to go through with it if possible.” The defender played most of his career games for Servette FC in Switzerland (59).
Note: This article appeared on Transfermarkt in a first version on March 2nd and has been updated several times.
Kleindienst before Glatzel: The top scorers of the 2nd Bundesliga
To home page