Michael Ballack has 3 roads ahead leading to the same German club
When Michael Ballack left Bayer Leverkusen for Bayern Munich the former club did everything in their power to bring back their old star, but what they had in progression was that the club in fact enjoyed one its best campaigns.
Eight years gone but the former club has not forgotten its once fabled player, now the tables have so turned that Michael Ballack is returning back to it former club from Chelsea. After a four year period with Munich, Ballack got transferred to Chelsea in 2006.
After spending another four years with Chelsea the world class player is returning to his former club after Chelsea refused to renew his contract. Though Michael Becker, the agent of Ballack, was shocked and told that Ballack had mutual emotions they did not have to wait long for a new contract.
The contract with Chelsea finishes with the ending of June. Ballack has told that he was extremely surprised when he found that Chelsea were not replenishing his contract for the new season. Ballack told that he was particularly surprised with the decision as he had not had any form of communication with the club in weeks.
However, he is not the only star player that is being let go; Joe Cole and Juliano Belletti are also among that list. Ballack becomes a free agent at the end of the month and already offers are being piled up from clubs from Bundesliga.
Bayer Leverkusen is on top of the list with their sports director, Rudi Voller, stating that he is quite eager over the deal. Their manager Wolfgang Holzhauser told, “We know that he has two definite offers and we are now ready to start negotiations. We will do all we can to bring Ballack back. We are in close contact with him and his agent”.
Still Holzhauser admitted that he knew he could not compete with the offers their arch-rivals Wolfsburg and Hamburg are ready to make for the original captain of the Blues and Germany. Holzhauser told that he whole heartedly hoped that Ballack would follow his instincts and return to the club he once belonged to.
It might be quite possible as Ballack is the kind of person that remembers loyalty. His contract renewal talks had been going on 3 months before the announcement of the revoking and Ballack had told the Chelsea board that if there was a financial problem he was ready to take a pay cut. So he might eventually be running for Leverkusen where he earlier spent 3 years of his career.
His current season was marred with injuries and bad fate and though he played an important role in Chelsea’s title win led by their new manager Carlo Ancelotti, he cannot be considered as being always there.
However it is certain that Ballack will not face any problems in his future. Right now he is in Miami enjoying a vacation after an ankle injury by Portsmouth’s Kevin Prince-Boateng ruled him out of the club. He met the German team in Italy (where they went to train) before their departure for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
The German coach Joachim Low has told that Ballack is an amazing player and he was disappointed when he found out that he would not be able to compete in the World Cup. Still he told that Germany had a great chance of winning the World Cup glory with the new and well balanced team.
Low also told that he believed Ballack had at least 2 to 3 superb years left in him. He expressed his thoughts saying, “I think when you see what condition he was in recent months for Chelsea then it is clear he will play at the highest level for two to three more years”.
However like things may look for the 33 year old Ballack things are not. Holzhauser certainly believes so when he claimed, “If he does come to us, then he is going to have to make sacrifices. We cannot compete with what the others are offering”.
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