Speaking to kicker, Mainz sporting director Niko Bungert gave his view on why the 05ers sold Brajan Gruda this summer, despite wanting to keep him for longer.
This summer Mainz have lost a lot of quality in their squad with Sepp van den Berg, Leandro Barreiro and Gruda all leaving the Mewa Arena for different reasons. A price of €50m for Gruda had been quoted earlier on in the window, but the winger ended up moving to England for €30m. On the price, Bungert said:
“We agreed: It had to be a sum that would also enable us to tackle a few projects here in the long term. Such as building the new office. We want and need to generate a transfer surplus, also to deal with infrastructure issues. This principle has made us an economically healthy club for decades. But we also used a good portion of the sum to bring in three more reinforcements.”
The sale of Gruda broke Mainz’s transfer record for a departure. The previous record was helped by Abdou Diallo who joined Borussia Dortmund in 2018 for €28m, while a year later Jean-Philippé Gbamin joined Everton for €25m.
Mainz’s academy is probably one of the best in Germany after the club reached the latter stages of the UEFA Youth League. Last season the club had Gruda and striker Nelson Weiper in the squad, however, the latter struggled with injuries. On if there had been a reduction in young players coming into the squad, Bungert firmly said:
No, Nelson Weiper, who was promoted last season, is only 19, and Maxim is 18. Our professional squad is very compact again, including these two young guys we have 22 field players. There is hardly a squad structure like this anywhere else in the league, it is a conscious decision for the young players. Elsewhere the path for youth players to the pros is much, much longer. Even if three pros get injured there, it will be difficult for the young players.
This summer, as well as moves within the Bundesliga with Gabriel Vidovic and Armindo Sieb (both Bayern Munich) and Moritz Jenz (Wolfsburg) joining the club on loan. Mainz also completed the signings of Kaishu Sano (Kashima Antlers) and Hyun-Seok Hong (KAA Gent). On if Mainz are now looking more internationally for their targets, Bungert stated:
Yes, to a certain extent. In addition to our own youth, the 2nd division plus the part of the Bundesliga that is financially viable for us will remain the most important pillar for us. We have had the best experiences with players from this pool, such as Anton Stach or JaeSung Lee, in recent years. Internationally, we are mainly looking at our immediate neighboring countries. And the Asian region remains interesting, as a look at our starting eleven recently shows.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
