RB Leipzig’s forward Marcel Sabitzer told BILD why he didn't want to join Leipzig a few weeks ago, and why he has now changed his mind.
“The situation was different”
Sabitzer said that he wanted to develop and that he doesn’t believe that Leipzig is the best option for that. But now he says that “the situation was different. It wasn’t clear who would be the new coach”.
When Ralf Rangnick – who works as sporting director for the Red Bull-owned clubs in Salzburg and Leipzig – said that he would be in charge for the following season, Sabitzer's doubts were quickly erased. He says that it was never in question for Leipzig to force him to come back.
A dubious approach
The situation with Sabitzer is quite complicated. When he played in Austrian top-flight for Rapid Wien, Red Bull Salzburg showed interest in signing him, but because of a clause in his contract with Rapid he couldn’t join a league rival.
Therefore, RB Leipzig bought Sabitzer in summer 2014 but directly loaned him out to Salzburg. This dubious approach of circumventing contracts was heavily criticized.
“I will be playing”
Now in Leipzig, Sabitzer was asked what he thinks of his chances to be a crucial player in Leipzig’s 2015-16 squad. “Everyone decides for themselves if they play or not," he said. He showed his confidence by adding that “I will be playing”, if he can repeat his performances shown while with Salzburg.
A criticized “project”
RB Leipzig, even though not officially declared, want to gain promotion to Bundesliga this year and play in the Champions League as soon as possible. This “project” has been criticized a lot.
Most of the fans from Leipzig’s opponents in the past 2. Bundesliga campaign decided not to travel to their team’s away games in the Red Bull Arena, in order to show their anger at the club's very existence.