Yaremchuk could have stayed at Benfica – Atalanta helped the Ukrainian move to Brugge

Brugge CEO Vincent Mannaert told how the Belgian champions managed to sign Ukrainian national team striker Roman Yaremchuk.

Roman Yaremchuk. Photo - Getty

Forward Roman Yaremchuk returned to the Župile League this week and joined Brugge. The team of Eduard Sobol paid Benfica 16 million euros for the Ukrainian (plus 3 million bonuses) and set a transfer record for the Belgian Championship. However, this transition might not have taken place if...

Initially, Brugge wanted to sign forward Sturm Rasmus Haylund - the Black and Blues offered the Austrians 10 million euros for the striker. However, the 19-year-old Dane decided to accept the offer of Atalanta, who, as a result, laid out 17 million euros for the player. Only after that, Brugge returned to the candidacy of Yaremchuk, whom he tried to lure while still playing for Gent.

“We decided to sign Yaremchuk at the last moment. Two weeks ago, Benfica coach Roger Schmidt did not agree to let his striker go. But the truth is that Yaremchuk wouldn't have moved to Brugge if we could get Høylund. Earlier, two or three years ago, we already wanted to invite Yaremchuk. Thus, he was in our database - you should make new transfer requests from time to time, ”Voetbalnieuws.be quotes Mannaert.

Recall that Yaremchuk signed a four-year contract with Brugge. Transfermarkt values ​​the Ukrainian at 15 million euros.