Deadline Day in Turkey
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SC Freiburg sold Roland Sallai to Galatasaray one year before his contract expired. On Friday, the last day of transfers in Turkey, the 27-year-old Hungarian international was presented as a new signing at the top Istanbul club. According to official information from the receiving club, Sallai costs a transfer fee of 6 million euros, which will be paid over four seasons. The player will receive a net salary of 2.5 million euros per year.
Sallai came to Freiburg from APOEL Nicosia in the summer of 2018 for €4.5 million and played 163 games, scoring 27 goals and providing 23 assists. With a market value of €15 million, he was one of the most valuable professionals in the Freiburg squad. In the first two games of the new Bundesliga season, however, Ritsu Doan (26) and Vincenzo Grifo (31) were preferred over Sallai. In addition, Eren Dinkçi (22), a new signing costing €5 million, was pushing for a place on the wing. This summer, Sallai was repeatedly linked with other clubs such as Leeds United.
“The team has continued to develop over the last few years and Roland was an important part of that. Roland had often flirted with the idea of changing clubs in the past. Due to the contractual situation and our current squad structure, we agreed to a change after considering the overall situation. We would like to thank Roland for his commitment in six intensive years together and wish him all the best in Istanbul,” emphasised SCF board member Jochen Saier. Sallai added: “I had a great time in Freiburg. We were successful in the Bundesliga, were in the cup final in Berlin and played internationally. Here I developed into a seasoned senior national player. I would like to say thank you for that. Freiburg will always be a formative stop in my career.”
Thanks to the Sallai sale, Freiburg’s transfer income this summer rose to €11.7 million, compared to €10.8 million in expenses. Galatasaray, on the other hand, invested €34.2 million in new players and received €34.2 million from sales.
