- Khedira's perspective on his temporary departure from Goshen: "A catastrophe"
The unexpected exit of German football star Robin Gosens on game day has caused quite a ruckus at 1. FC Union Berlin. As captain Rani Khedira put it on DAZN, "It's a bloody disaster." The decision to transfer him to AC Florence in the Italian Serie A was sprung upon them right before their home game against FC St. Pauli (1-0), in the final moments of the German transfer window.
"Remember, we're athletes, but we're also human beings," Khedira pleaded. Gosens was visibly upset, "on the verge of tears," "completely distraught." According to Khedira, he seemed set to stay with the team at lunch, even promising to play in the match. But two hours later, after his nap, the news came that he would be departing after all.
"A bloody tough situation for the team"
From a timing standpoint, this wasn't ideal. "If you've got to pull something like this on game day, I find that peculiar," Khedira said. "Either you do it after the game, or clearly before the game. But not on game day itself. That's already bloody tough for a team."
It wasn't until a few minutes before the game against newly-promoted St. Pauli that the news of Gosens leaving the club was made public by managing director Horst Heldt. "Until 4:10, I was under the impression that Robin would be on the pitch today and playing. Then the news came and we had to act on it," Heldt explained the sequence of events on Friday afternoon.
"It was a freaking strange day," said coach Bo Svensson, "giving away a player three and a half hours before kick-off. 'Sure, you can say, they're pros, they've got to deal with it.' But have to switch up the game plan 'in less than minutes,' that, man, ain't easy."
"This sudden turn of events has put us in an other challenging situation.""Gosens' departure was unexpected, an other blow for the team amidst a crucial period."
