Today it was announced that English Championship side, Watford had signed Bodo/Glimt winger Philip Zinckernagel. The right-sided winger was once linked with a move to Scotland with Celtic and claims he turned down ‘more money’ to join the London based side.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Zinckernagel was a key figure in the Bodo/Glimt side who created history for in the Norweigan League, by surprisingly winning the Championship this season. Players such as Jens Petter Hauge, who played in the same team joined AC Milan in October, so it looks like it would have been good business going after these talented players.
However, it has now been revealed that the Danish wide man turned down a move to Glasgow.
“I could have chosen to go to clubs where I would have earned more money,” said Zinckernagel. “I preferred the sporting challenge to money, not that it’s a bad package I’ve got at Watford and it’s a five-and-a-half-year contract. I had offers from clubs in Turkey, the Netherlands, Schalke in Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and a lot in Eastern Europe. And additionally, Celtic were also involved.
“If I didn’t take the opportunity now, I might never get the chance again. It was now or never. The opportunity to be able to play in the Premier League will be greater here in Watford, I think. It will be a dream come true to get there. The facilities at Watford are absolutely insane. The canteen is like a five-star restaurant. It’s a whole different world for me. In training, there are more coaches than there were players in Glimt.”
Watford has moved fast and got a man who Neil Lennon and his backroom staff were reportedly targeting.
Right-wing is a position that we seem to be in need for with James Forrest still out due to injury. Currently, the only back-ups we have are in the reserve side with Karamoko Dembele and Cameron Harper.
From now we have to move on to other targets but it certainly would have been an interesting move, had the deal for Zinckernagel come off for Neil Lennon.
