How Plymouth Argyle have reacted to Mustapha Bundu exit as next move confirmed | OneFootball

Forward Mustapha Bundu has joined 2. Bundesliga side Hannover 96 after rejecting the offer of a new contract at Plymouth Argyle.

Plymouth Argyle have confirmed that forward Mustapha Bundu has rejected the offer of a new contract and will be leaving the club to join 2. Bundesliga side Hannover 96.

Bundu joined Plymouth from Belgian outfit Anderlecht in the summer of 2023 following their promotion from League One, and he helped the club secure Championship survival in his first year at Home Park.

After an inconsistent debut season, Bundu enjoyed an excellent campaign last term as he scored 11 goals and provided six assists in 42 appearances, with seven of those strikes coming after Miron Muslic's arrival in January, but his impressive form was not enough to prevent Argyle's relegation.

In their released and retained list, the Pilgrims confirmed that they had offered Bundu a new contract, but the 28-year-old has turned down the proposal in order to make the move to Hannover, bringing his two-year spell at the club to an end.

Bundu is the second player to reject a new deal at Plymouth in recent weeks after midfielder Jordan Houghton decided against extending his stay in Devon to join fellow League One side Stevenage, but it has still been a positive start to the summer for the club, with Tom Cleverley taking over as head coach and five new signings arriving so far.

Mustapha Bundu departs Plymouth Argyle for Hannover 96

Plymouth announced on Wednesday afternoon that Bundu had rejected their contract offer and was set to join a 2. Bundesliga side, which has now been confirmed to be Hannover.

The Pilgrims picked Bundu's goal in the 1-0 home win over eventual champions Leicester City in April 2024 as the highlight of his time at the club, describing it as "perhaps his most memorable strike" as it "went a long way to securing Argyle’s safety that season".

Plymouth said that Bundu "leaves with our best wishes for the future", and they wished him luck as he begins his new adventure in Germany.

Hannover finished in a disappointing ninth place in the 2. Bundesliga last season, but as they continue their rebuild under new manager Christian Titz, Bundu is the 10th signing of what is proving to be an incredibly busy summer, and the Sierra Leone international expressed his excitement about joining the project at the Heinz von Heiden-Arena.

"What's happening here at Hannover 96 has really appealed to me," Bundu told the club's official website.

"Something new is emerging here with the new coach and many new players in the team.

"The discussions have really excited me.

"I want to be there and play for this club, which has a rich tradition, is known in the football world beyond Germany, has a large community and many fans, and is, of course, always about ambitious goals.

"I'm ambitious too, and I'm looking forward to this challenge."

Plymouth Argyle may be relieved to see Mustapha Bundu join Hannover 96 instead of Schalke

While Plymouth supporters will undoubtedly be disappointed to see Bundu depart, there may be an element of relief among the fan base that he has not reunited with Muslic at Schalke.

After Muslic's acrimonious move to the German outfit, some speculated about whether Bundu could follow him to the Veltins-Arena, but the forward will instead be coming up against his old head coach in the 2. Bundesliga next season with Hannover, rather than playing under him once again.

With Bundu following Ryan Hardie out of the exit door after his move to Wrexham last week, the Pilgrims currently have no senior strikers on their books, but that could be set to change as the club are currently in talks to sign St Mirren forward Owen Oseni, which was exclusively revealed by FLW earlier this week.