Admir Mehmedi has joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen from SC Freiburg, after the Breisgau-Brasilianer were relegated on the last day of the 2014-15 Bundesliga campaign. According to the EXPRESS, a local newspaper in North Rhine-Westphalia, the two clubs agreed a €5.5m transfer fee for the Swiss international. A move away from the Breisgauer was expected after their relegation in 2. Bundesliga.
“The perfect man” in the midst of many stars
“He is the perfect man for us” stated Bayer Leverkusen's sporting director Rudi Völler. Leverkusen already have two strikers with Stefan Kießling and Josip Drmic and a lot of offensive power with players like , Karim Bellarabi, Hakan Calhanoglu, Heung-min Son and Julian Brandt. However, with Drmic being heavily linked to a move to Borussia Mönchengladbach this summer, the signing of Admir Mehmedi was seen as a necessity in order to ensure offensive depth.
A difficult season at Freiburg
Mehmedi joined the Breisgauer in 2013 on a loan deal from Dynamo Kiev, but Freiburg made use of their option to buy and paid around €6m for his services in the summer of 2014. The forward enjoyed an impressive first season with the club, as he made 32 appearances and scored 12 goals. This season however, Mehmedi struggled to find the net in the Bundesliga, scoring just seven goals in 32 official matches.
Mehmedi has, according to transfermarkt.de, an actual market value of six million euros. Over the past month, the Swiss international had been linked with several clubs, with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hannover 96 and Hamburger SV all reportedly vying for his signature.
Leverkusen will be playing the qualification for the Champions League on 18th/19th and 25th/26th of August. The draw for these fixtures will be done on August 7th. If they reach the group stage, Mehmedi could make his first appearance on Europe's biggest club competition.