“One mercenary among many”: Marseille fans turn on HSV's Nadir! | OneFootball

Bilal Nadir is officially an HSV player! The 22-year-old completed his medical on Wednesday. Two days later, he trained with his new teammates for the first time.

While many HSV fans are delighted about the free transfer of a young midfielder with Champions League experience, Nadir’s departure has caused plenty of anger at his former club Olympique Marseille.

The reason: Nadir left the traditional French club this summer on a free transfer after five years. Marseille had even extended his contract in spring 2024, although the then U23 international had suffered a torn ACL just a few weeks earlier.

“I’m relieved and very happy to be able to continue my adventure at Olympique Marseille. My contract was close to expiring, and I was in a difficult situation. The contract extension is a great sign of trust from the club, and I would like to thank the club management,” he said at the time.

Photo: IMAGO

However, there was to be no further extension. According to the French outlet FootMarseillais, the latest negotiations reportedly did not fail because of the sporting project, but because of the player’s financial demands. Nadir is said to have asked for a signing bonus of €2.5 million as well as an annual net salary of around €1.2 million. For Marseille, those terms were not financially feasible.

HSV beats out Bundesliga competition

As a result, many supporters reacted emotionally when the departure became official at the beginning of July. On social media, the frustration of numerous fans spilled over. “Another one pretending to love the club who in the end is just another mercenary,” one user wrote on X. Another comment read: “He should be ashamed.” Other users accused Nadir: “You turned down the contract extension so you could leave for free.”

At HSV, these side issues are understandably unlikely to cause much unrest. After all, the Rothosen are securing a player who is only 22, has international experience, and an estimated market value of eight million euros — on a free transfer. In addition, Bundesliga clubs such as VfB Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt are also said to have shown interest in Nadir in recent weeks. So the club’s Hanseatic decision-makers appear to have pulled off a real coup.

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