“I don’t want him to go”
Can the star coach still avert Frey’s departure?
Michael Frey wants to leave Antwerp immediately because of his joker role. But coach Mark van Bommel wants to keep the Swiss forward and will have him in the squad for Sunday’s top game.
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An ex-world-class player trains Antwerp: Mark van Bommel doesn’t want to know anything about the departure of his striker, Michael Frey.
Matthew Dubachreporter sports
“That was Michael Frey’s last game for Antwerp!” rumbled striker Michael Frey (28) during the week after winning the cup quarter-finals, pissed off about his joker role with the Belgians.
Frey wants to go. As quickly as possible. But the club won’t just let their top scorer of last season go, despite interest from other Belgian clubs.
Coach Mark von Bommel (45) emphasizes this at the press conference before the top fight of the third-placed league on Sunday at second-placed champions Union Saint-Gilloise. “I don’t think it was Michael’s last game for the club,” says the former world-class player.
“Everyone is dissatisfied when they don’t play”
Van Bommel assures that he has already spoken to Frey about the scandal. And that there is no reason why the Swiss should not be in the squad on Sunday.
For the trainer, Frey’s outburst of anger is understandable: “Michael is dissatisfied. That’s every footballer when he’s not playing. Every footballer is full of emotions, they had to come out with him.”
Since the new signing Vincent Janssen (28) already has 11 league goals and Frey also has 7 despite the reduced playing time, van Bommel says: “If you have two strikers like that, you don’t want them to go. So I don’t want Michael to go. He also has a contract (until summer 2024, ed.). We will settle it together with him in a good way.”
Will van Bommel even be so cuddly that he will order Frey into the starting XI on Sunday?