Transfer drama revealed: BVB move for Karetsas nearly collapsed | OneFootball

After tough negotiations, BVB secured the services of Konstantinos Karetsas. However, shortly before the deal was finalized, the transfer was still in danger of collapsing.

Borussia Dortmund secured the services of Konstantinos Karetsas this summer. But apparently, it did not take much for the transfer of the 18-year-old attacking player to fall through at the final hurdle. Of all clubs, AC Milan almost threw a spanner in the works for BVB. As Sport Bild reports, negotiations with Karetsas’ previous club KRC Genk were initially difficult.

The Belgian club is said to have originally demanded €35 million for their top talent. A fee Dortmund was unwilling to pay. Instead, the BVB bosses first focused on convincing Karetsas to make the move to the Ruhr region. For that purpose, the Greek international was invited to Dortmund. Among other things, he was shown the stadium and got an impression of what would await him at home matches in front of the famous backdrop.

The efforts paid off. Karetsas is said to have told his agent shortly afterwards that only a move to BVB was an option for him. The player’s camp then reportedly communicated this clear wish to Genk as well – giving Dortmund a better negotiating position.

AC Milan wanted new BVB signing Karetsas

In June, the breakthrough finally came. Sporting director Ole Book held further talks with the officials in Genk and apparently managed to lower the original asking price. According to the report, the two clubs agreed on a fixed transfer fee of €30 million.

Photo: IMAGO

The fact that the agreement had already been reached at that point proved decisive. Because shortly afterwards, Dortmund reportedly learned that AC Milan were also seriously pursuing Karetsas. The Italians were even said to have been willing to pay the originally demanded €35 million. For BVB, the Rossoneri’s interest came just too late. Besides the agreement already in place, Karetsas’ clear desire to move to Dortmund also played into their hands.

Meanwhile, the Greek has signed his contract with BVB and has already made his competitive debut. In the 1-2 Super Cup defeat to Bayern Munich, Karetsas was in the starting lineup and showed why Dortmund had been so persistent in signing him.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.