topic/football

Jonah Kusi-Asare.

Photo: JESPER ZERMAN / BILDBYRÅN

Kusi-Asare is ready for Bayern Munich.

Photo: MAXIM THORE / BILDBYRÅN

Thomas Berntsen.

Photo: HENRIK ISAKSSON / IBL

On Monday, Expressen was able to reveal that attacking talent Jonah Kusi-Asare is leaving AIK. The club has agreed with Germany’s Bayern Munich on a transfer worth around SEK 60 million. Additional money in the form of bonuses can be added where the bonus package is worth between SEK 20-25 million, according to Expressen’s information.

AIK’s sporting director Thomas Berntsen has previously confirmed negotiations with a club. Now he gives the following answer to the question of whether a deal can be completed as early as Tuesday:

– Some times it is very close, but it can also be far away. Things can change in a second. But there’s a reason he’s not here.

In Spain, where AIK has now arrived to conduct the second training camp of the pre-season.

Have you given him permission to visit another club?

– Yes we have. But I don’t know if he has left.

According to information to Expressen, Kusi-Asare will undergo a medical examination at Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Depending on how long it takes, he signs during the evening, alternatively tomorrow.

– Then he has left, adds Berntsen.

How has it been around him in recent weeks? Has the interest become more intense and intense?

– It has been intense around Jonah for a period, it has been. Then we’ll see what happens.

How have you reasoned about the situation?

– It is a bit uncertain if he is sold. It’s fun for the player and good financially for the club, but myself and Henning (Berg, head coach) would have liked to have seen Jonah stay here for a couple more years and develop his amazing talent. And it may happen that it will continue to be so, but as it is now, it is moving towards a transition. And the situation the club is in is that we should sell to stabilize our finances. So, financially it is right for AIK to sell now. But if the sun had been in the middle of the sky and there had been no wind, we would have preferred to keep Jonah for a couple more years.

– If he goes, it will be a top sale for the club.

Has it been relevant to sell and loan Jonah back? There is talk of such an arrangement around Lucas Bergvall.

– No, there has been nothing. We rip the patch right off, we. If it happens, it does, it…

Maybe you don’t earn anything from it?

– It’s like when you make out with your ex-wife for too long after the divorce, you just have to break up immediately.

Thomas Berntsen laughs.

Jonah Kusi-Asare is one of several young talents who already have, alternatives seem to, leave Sweden for big money. The aforementioned Lucas Bergvall is another. Momodou Sonko a third. BK Häcken sold the 18-year-old to Belgian KAA Gent for around SEK 90 million.

Thomas Berntsen thinks the sales are good for Swedish football.

– It’s good for Swedish football, we need to get more money into the league. Malmö is competitive in relation to Bodö/Glimt and Molde and FC Copenhagen and so on. We other clubs are not. We have to get bigger economy. The train that runs in Scandinavian football and also in European … It’s money that matters. We have to take part in a larger part of the money that is out in Europe.

Do you think you will sell any more players than possibly Jonah Kusi-Asare before most transfer windows close in a few days?

– No, doubtful.

The 56-year-old, who has been at Liverpool since 2015, explains that he loves the club, but the energy is about to run out.

– I have no problems now, obviously. I knew I needed to tell you this at some point, but I’m fine now. But I know I can’t put that work in over and over and over again, he says to the club’s website.

Jürgen Klopp then addresses the supporters.

– After the years we had together and all the time we spent together and all the things we went through together, the respect for you has grown, the love for you has grown and the least I owe you is the truth – and it is the truth.

Kept it a secret for two months

The announcement came as no surprise to Liverpool.

– I told the club in November. I have to explain that the job that I might do that people see from the outside, I’m standing on the sidelines and at the practices and stuff like that, but the majority of all things happen around this kind of thing. That means one season is starting and you’re pretty much planning the next season already.

Klopp explains that the idea came when they sat down to plan future signings and training camps.

– I wasn’t sure if I would stay here then. I surprised myself with that thought. Of course I started thinking about it.

After several successful years at Borussia Dortmund, the German left the Bundesliga for the Premier League in 2015.

In Liverpool, he has been involved in bringing home both the league and the Champions League.